By Shaun Casey

AFTER 13 league games, Mayobridge sit in second place in the Division One league table, so it’s no surprise that manager Barry Dillon is pleased with the progress of his young side.

They’ve won eight of their games to date, and with five more league encounters coming up before the championship season throws in, the Derry native is hoping they can finish the campaign on a high.

There is a break in Down club football now with Mayobridge’s next game coming against Bredagh on Monday night.

Their last outing was a tough one as they suffered a hefty 5-18 to 1-8 defeat to league leaders and Down kingpins Kilcoo.

Another factor to contend with is the U20 championship, with many promising young Mayobridge players already starring on the senior scene.

“The U20 championship is coming in at the mid-point of the league and we could have done without it.

“At the same time, they’ve won two U20 championships in a row and a U18 championship so there’s a young, dynamic group there in Mayobridge which is very exciting,” Dillon said.

“We played Kilcoo in our last game and we didn’t play any of our U20s who had played two nights before. We have maybe 10 of those boys starting for us.

“We were well beaten and Kilcoo just showed their power and the squad size they have, they really put the burners on and gave us a bit of a lesson, which will do these young boys no harm, it shows the level we have to reach.”

Mayobridge, who have welcomed Shane Annett and Adam Crimmins back into the panel following the end of the intercounty season, haven’t won a championship title since 2008

While Kilcoo are the obvious frontrunners for the Frank O’Hare Cup, Dillon believes there’s plenty of quality within the Mourne County.

“Kilcoo are a serious animal there as well as Clonduff. Kilcoo only got past them last year by the skin of their teeth and no doubt Clonduff will be looking to go one step further this year.

“Carryduff have been knocking around the last while and they’ll be looking to push on too.

“There’s a lot of serious quality teams in Down and the standard is very good.

“It’s no surprise that the county team want to be playing Sam Maguire football because that’s really where they should be to be honest, with the level of footballer that they have.

“I’m enjoying my time with them, it’s good football and there’s 18 league games so it’s non-stop. All the teams will be getting their county players back now and we’ll start seeing the real football taking shape then.”