By Michael McMullan

DESERTMARTIN sharpshooter Enda McGuckin is glad to see the club return to intermediate football next season and hopes the ‘football crazy’ buzz around the club will drive participation to the next level.

The restructuring of the Derry leagues led to their drop to junior level at the end of the 2019 season.

Earlier this year, they won the rescheduled 2020 junior championship, but Covid restrictions meant a freeze on promotion and an Ulster campaign to test them further.

“As much as you felt it was getting the monkey off our backs, once we got back to normality it was very important to get this one this season,” McGuckin points out.

After a convincing win over Sean Dolan’s last month in this year’s junior final, Desertmartin are in action on Sunday against Fermanagh champions St Patrick’s Donagh.

“That was the aim,” said McGuckin of their elevation from the junior ranks. “The likes of the older boys on the team – Myself, Connor (Monaghan), Greg (McGovern), Adie (Treanor) – we played intermediate football for all of our careers.

“We won an U21 championship back then and were tipped to go on and do things at intermediate, but it never happened.”

Increased numbers, mixed with a structure coaching plan, has helped lift the standard at underage level. Desertmartin also won the restructured 2020 U16 and minor finals earlier his year.

Players have begun to emerge on county and various college teams, culminating in Lachlan Murray, Connor Shiels and Ryan McEldowney picking up All-Ireland medals with Derry minors.

“It is important now to keep the bunch together, that nobody falls away from football,” said McGuckin, who coaches the current U9s with fellow senior player Connor Monaghan.

“It is important to keep that all together. To be back playing intermediate football, we are well capable of it with the panel of players that they have.”

Sunday is the first test, against a team that were Fermanagh senior champions as recently as 2008 and were only relegated from intermediate last season. Former Erne forward Eamon Maguire is among four still featuring on the side.

“They won the senior title in 2008, so have that bit of experience and they are a big, physical side,” McGuckin feels about Sunday’s opponents.

Desertmartin’s preparations are based around a vibrant reserve team who have all put their shoulder to the wheel to ‘drive’ the senior challenge on.

“It is a small club, but it’s football crazy down here,” McGuckin stresses. He speaks of the days he’d go to watch Slaughtneil and Ballinderry on the Ulster stage, with an inkling of what it would feel like for Desertmartin to get their taste. It is nice to be training and playing whenever there are not that many teams playing any football at this stage.”

Taking the cup around the community added to the excitement and McGuckin is full of praise for how local schools Cullion and Knocknagin had embraced their successful run. Planting a see for the next batch of players.

“You have the usual people around the club, looking to try and better the place, the senior team and the underage teams,” he said.

“It’s about trying to create more people like that. Thankfully the numbers are well up and it can only go on a bit more from here.”