By Michael McMullan

DUNLOY joint-manager Shane Elliott is content with his side’s progress but feels there is work to be done.

They face St John’s this weekend in a top of the table clash that will decide who advances straight to the semi-final spot as group winners.

The former goalkeeper manages the team with Liam Richmond, taking over after Gregory O’Kane stepped down.

Having worked with the players before and with his role at underage level, settling in was seamless.

“We knew the challenge we had, but we settled in quite quickly,” Elliott said. “It was good to be back in many ways.”

They looked at close to 40 players during the league with the added bonus of having a second team competing at Division Three to fill the void left by a failing reserve grade.

There was the balance of fielding two teams every week, with games on the same day and often at the same time.

It left training more competitive with players knowing there was a game coming down the tracks, a chance to shine ahead of the championship season.

“Players were getting a lot more games than they had in the last four or five years,” Elliott said.

“We used it (the league) to blood players, to have a look at players, to get players as much game time as we could and then we would see where we were at.”

With county players away hurling with Antrim, they finished third, behind champions Rossa, before following it up with championship wins over Ballycastle and Naomh Éanna.

“If I’m being honest, I would say we’re happy enough,” Elliott said ahead of Saturday’s trip to Corrigan Park

“There’s stuff that we are very happy about where we’re at, there are things we need to work on, but every manager in the country will be saying that.”

They have learned from the championship game but there is still plenty of road to travel.

Is top spot a priority? A tough question. Not really, not until now. Dunloy’s focus has been the six inches in front of their face. The next outing. Now it comes into view. Winning games is number one.

“Genuinely, we weren’t really focused on saying we need to top the group,” Elliott added, not trying to gloss over it.

“If we had to go back again and play in a quarter-final, it wouldn’t be a disaster either, because it’s another game.”

Jeopardy is coming around the corner sooner rather than later but an unbeaten St John’s sharpens the immediate focus.

“We have our eyes wide open,” Elliott said of Saturday’s game. “St John’s were very, very unlucky not to be in the championship final last year when they had Cushendall on the ropes in Dunloy.

“They are a very, very capable side, very well drilled and very well set up. They would know a fair bit about us. We certainly have a fair idea about how they operate.

“It’ll be a good challenge for us. I think it’ll give everybody a sense of where you’re at, because now it’s starting to get to the business end of the season and you want to really see where you’re at. So, the St John’s match in Corrigan will do that for us.”