By Shaun Casey

MAGHERACLOONE manager Damian Feeney is looking forward to lining up against 2002 All-Ireland winner and fellow Armagh native John McEntee this weekend as his side take on Inniskeen for a spot in the Monaghan SFC decider.

Feeney is one of five men from the Orchard County to be involved in Monaghan club football and he’s going “head-to-head” with another two on Sunday afternoon in McEntee and Tony Kernan, a member of the Inniskeen management team.

Magheracloone last reached the county final back in 2017, losing out to Scotstown, and are eyeing up a return to that stage. They have already tasted defeat to Inniskeen however in the group stages when McEntee’s men won by seven points.

“It’s strange, I think there’s actually five Armagh men involved in Monaghan so it’s good to go head-to-head with John,” said Feeney. “He’s well experienced now and he’s about a long time so it’ll be nice to go up against him.

“He’s in with Inniskeen now a few years and he has a few years on me in terms of Monaghan football but I’m looking forward to it. I respect John as a manager and a coach; he’s a good man and a sound man.

“The two teams would know each other really well at this stage. They beat us the last day, they were far stronger than us, we weren’t up for it.

“They are a seasoned team and they’re a good outfit, they know what the Senior Championship in Monaghan is about. They will be coming in as hot favourites, and we’ll just have to try and get back up to a level of performance again.”

Magheracloone caught the headlines last weekend with a storming victory over Corduff and the Mitchell’s have bounced back well from back-to-back defeats in the opening rounds of the group stages.

“The boys have really stepped up,” added the Middletown clubman.

“We lost the first few matches in the championship and there was a lot of soul searching going on within the group so to be fair, they have stepped up. The last three matches, two in the group and then last week, they stood up, and they really came to the fore.”

Magheracloone, who also have a Division One final with Scotstown to look forward to later in the year, will have a full hand to pick from; Feeney is hoping the momentum of last weekend will aid their cause as well.

“We’ll have a clean bill of health, all being well. We were waiting three weeks for a quarter-final and now we only have a week’s turnaround for a semi-final which is definitely something that needs looked at as far as I’m concerned.

“It has its bonuses I suppose; we’re going in with a bit of momentum while Inniskeen have been sitting for five weeks with no game so that’s the other flaw in it from their side. This week has just been about getting bodies recovered and hopefully we have no injuries.”