By Barry O’Donnell

BERAGH captain Cathal Owens insists that their eye-catching scoring tally in the first round-when they hit seven goals past Naomh Eoghan- should be ‘taken with a pinch of salt’.

Jack Campbell grabbed all the headlines with his nap hand five goal haul, while Oisin Donnelly and Mattie McSorley also netted as the Red Knights ran amok in Loughmacrory.

The margin of their 7-12 to 2-10 triumph certainly surprised Cathal Owens who had become accustomed to much closer fought battles with the same opposition in previous seasons.

“Over the years us and at the time Newtownstewart as they were called we have had great tussles, with one or two point victories either way. They beat us in the Championship Final (Junior 2018) a few years ago as well, so it comes as a bit of a shock that we did score that sort of total but we got a bit lucky too.

“Our keeper came out well and made a few good saves while a few of our boys went for points with the ball slipping into the top corner of the net, so we will take the scoreline with a pinch of salt.”

Next up for buoyant Beragh is Gortin in the Intermediate quarter-final this Saturday afternoon at Killyclogher, another side who Cathal has crossed paths with on numerous occasions.

“Gortin got to last year’s final and were unlucky to come up against an Edendork side littered with county players. Gortin notoriously down the years would be seen as a Championship team . They play a good brand of football and have some great players-Sean Og McAleer, Brian McGarvey. Those boys could play in any team in Division One.”

However this present Championship campaign eventually unfolds the 27 year old skipper feels that the future prospects for the Beragh club should be quite rosy.

“We have a good mix right now, we have the old heads the boys in their mid-thirties like Pete Meenagh and Damian Meenagh and then myself but all in all we are a young team. We also had three lads who were involved with Tyrone Minors this year which was a big boost. Hopefully they will come through next year so that is exciting for us.”