“We were getting beaten by nine points by 15 minutes and we were half thinking should we have bothered putting a team out. But the players turned things around and we ended up winning by ten points.”

This is how Paul Quinn, joint manager of Magherafelt u’21’s describes the beginning of the journey for the South Derry side who moved on to convincingly claim the county title.

Despite having MacRory cup winners such as Odhran Lynch and Simon McErlain in their ranks they come into the tournament as an unknown quantity.

“This group didn’t win anything at under 16 or minor level so we never really met any of these teams. They’re an unknown quantity to us and vice versa.”

Magherafelt meet Enniskillen Gaels in the quarter-final of the Creggan Ulster U21 Club Football Tournament with a 2:15pm throw in.

To read the full article including previews and match reports from the Bank Of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup alongside Ulster Club U’21 previews and all the usual features pick up this week’s Gaelic Life.