Errigal Ciaran joint-manager McGinley left with plenty to ponder

By Niall Gartland

A FIVE-DAY turnaround leaves little time for a thorough review, but Errigal Ciaran joint-manager Enda McGinley is hopeful they can learn enough from the drawn encounter to get over the line in Friday night’s Senior Championship final replay

Darren McCurry’s exquisite two-pointer deep into injury time rescued Edendork from defeat in their maiden Senior Championship final appearance, but McGinley acknowledged that Errigal Ciaran’s performance had its shortcomings, not least their wastefulness in front of the posts during the first half.

Nine wides before the interval told their own story, with McGinley admitting that his side struggled to find a way through a well-drilled Edendork defensive unit.

“A lot of chances weren’t taken. We really struggled to break them down. They were set up really well, so that’s certainly going to be a real focus during the week. They were really good defensively and asked us plenty of questions that we struggled to find the answers for.

“We did well in plenty of aspects of the game and couldn’t put them away. Again, you go back to that inability to break them down, and they punched hard on counters and were very disciplined in their own attacks.

“So look, they’ve given us plenty of things to think about, and they left plenty behind them as well. So, from the perspective of the final scoreline, we’re probably happy enough to get out of it with a draw.”

The short turnaround isn’t ideal from the perspective of player recovery and fine-tuning a fresh gameplan, but McGinley, who manages the team with Stevie Quinn, says they’ll do what they can in the window between games.

“Look, it’s the same for both sides. It is what it is.

“You’re going to be no fitter, your skills aren’t going to be any better, there’s not going to be any massive changes. There’ll be a few tweaks here and there.

“So much of this week is just trying to squeeze as much learning as you can out of this game and try to get the performance right for the next day.

“When the ball is thrown in, it will take on its own life again.”

Cormac Quinn kept close tabs on Tyrone star Darren McCurry, though the Edendork forward well and truly came to life in the closing stages. McGinley knows only too well that McCurry has the ability to wreak havoc on any given day.

“He’s a phenomenal player. He just has such craft and such ability, and those types of things are the things that don’t sit comfortably tonight, because you know that he had a quieter game than what he usually has, and he very rarely has two quiet games in a row.

“So that’s the challenge, and you can only expect that that’s going to work better for them the next day. We need to try and somehow find areas where we can measure up as well.”