By Shaun Casey

IT’S five years since Carryduff competed in their very first Down Senior Championship decider, but they are back on the big stage once again and Finnian Moriarty’s side lock horns with kingpins Kilcoo.

Back in 2020, Kilcoo overcame Carryduff in the decider with seven points to spare. Exactly one week earlier, Moriarty was guiding Maghery to championship glory in Armagh, having defeated Crossmaglen in the decider.

A similar overturning of the odds will be required this Sunday if Carryduff are to make history and beat the side chasing seven county titles in a row. Moriarty, now in his fourth season in charge, will hope to repeat those heroics.

“They’ve only been in one final and that’s what we said after the semi-final – it’s important that the players and the club embrace it because days like these don’t come around very often,” said the former Armagh defender.

“The last time Carryduff were in the final, a lot of the boys were significantly younger. DJ Morgan and Paddy Doherty were taking the team, and they had put a lot of work into them through underage and then they got the bounce from that when they took the senior team.

“They didn’t have a lot of experience and Kilcoo beat them well that day. They probably expected to be back in the final the year after and the year after, but it just doesn’t work like that, so this is a big day for the club and hopefully the boys can do themselves justice.”

Kilcoo have lost just one county final since 2012, to Burren in 2018, so the challenge ahead of Moriarty’s men cannot be overstated.

Since that 2020 meeting, Kilcoo have dominated Down but also tasted success at provincial and national level.

In that time, seven different teams have rocked up to county final day and while some have come close to toppling the Magpies, Burren are the only club that have actually achieved that, and the Wolfe Tones’ clubman is well aware of that statistic.

“The record they have speaks for itself. Not only have they been winning the Down Championship, but they’ve been getting runs in Ulster and then winning Ulsters and an All-Ireland – so you have to respect what they’ve done over the past number of years.

“They’ve been phenomenal and have been full value for all of the success that they’ve had. We know the size of the task ahead of us. Every year for the past 13 years, there’s been somebody in the final with them, and in those 13 years, only one team has got over the line.

“It’s an absolutely huge task going into it and we know that we’re going to be huge underdogs, but all we can do is focus on ourselves and try to get the best performance that we can and see where that gets us at the end of the match.”