O’Connor delighted with Blayney’s progress

By Shaun Casey

REACHING the knockout stage of the Senior Championship is a sign of progress for Castleblayney, acknowledges their manager Paul O’Connor, ahead of their date with Inniskeen in the quarter-finals this weekend.

‘Blayney, who gained promotion to the top tier last season by winning the Division Two league, finished second in their group, just behind Clontibret.

O’Connor, who led the Monaghan U20s to the Ulster Championship final earlier this year, has been pleased with how his side has performed during the campaign.

“Teams that come up from Intermediate to Senior tend to struggle and take a while to settle so it was obviously a big goal of ours to stay in senior football,” said the Castleblayney clubman.

“We’ve done that and competed very well, both in the league and the championship, albeit the league is very competitive and very tough, no more so than playing Cremartin last week.

“The club has obviously done a lot of work this last 10 or 12 years and our senior team is now backboned by players that won minor championships over the last four or five seasons. It’s very important from the club’s perspective to see that progress coming through.”

The Faughs came through a lengthy break period in the middle of the group stages, waiting on the sidelines for a month before beating Cremartin in the final round last weekend to qualify for the knockout stages.

John McEntee’s Inniskeen stand between O’Connor’s men and the last four and Inniskeen, having reached two of the last three county finals, will be a tough nut to crack.

But ‘Blayney did gain the upper hand in the two league encounters between the pair, including a league quarter-final, so that will offer some encouragement.

“They have been knocking on the door to win a Senior Championship over the last number of years,” O’Connor continued on the challenge Inniskeen will pose.

“Last year they were very unlucky not to win it when their game went to extra time with Scotstown so on paper, Inniskeen are very, very strong.

“They have the likes of Andrew Woods, we know the pedigree he has, Sean Jones likewise. Ciaran McNulty is back from his travels, Donal Meegan, and a couple of the lads that I would have had with the U20s.

“They have a very strong team and a very strong spine with real quality at the top end of the field. They’re a formidable team and we’ll need to be at our very best to beat them but we’re certainly looking forward to the challenge.”