McCarney looking forward to another shot at Ulster

By Niall Gartland

EXPERIENCED Fintona forward Aaron McCarney hopes that the Pearses can make their mark in the provincial arena having completed a league and championship double within Tyrone for the first time in the club’s history.

They take on Donegal representatives Urris in Sunday’s Ulster Junior Championship quarter-final in Omagh, and they’ll hope to fare better than their previous experience of life at this level, falling short at the semi-final hurdle three years ago.

McCarney said: “The last time we were in the semi-final, we got beaten by Blackhill. They were a strong side from Monaghan but we felt we didn’t turn up that night.

“We’re back in Ulster now, and we’ll go and express ourselves and take it one game at a time again. That’s all we’ve been doing all year, and we’ll hopefully go on a run. We’ll see.”

McCarney says that a key factor in their success this year has been the strength of their panel. They were able to spring young talents like Caolan Donnelly (who proved the goal-scoring hero) and Padraig Goodman from the bench in their dramatic victory over Stewartstown a fortnight ago.

“It’s all about momentum too, but it’s the squad depth we have, as you saw in the final. Look at the lads we’re taking off the bench. Everyone’s chipping in, and that’s what you need to build a resilient squad. We’re lucky enough on that front too.”

While Fintona had been rampant en route to the Junior final, they were certainly given their fill of it by a determined Stewartstown side. It may have surprised some, but not McCarney and the rest of the Fintona set-up.

It looked like the Division Three title was going to be their lot this year, but a stunning goal, virtually with the last kick, from Caolan Donnelly snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

“You just have to battle away and keep working hard, and that’s what we’ve done,” he said. “We’ve another Junior Championship sitting there, and we’re happy enough. We knew in the lead-up to the game that Stewartstown were going to give us a big challenge.

“They were in an All-Ireland Junior Final just a few years ago, and we were under no illusions about what we were coming up against. We just had to stay grounded, and thankfully we came out on the right side of it.”

Looking further down the line, McCarney confirms what we all know – that Fintona have no intention of surrendering their Intermediate status any time soon. Indeed, who knows what the future might hold if they conveyor belt keeps on rolling.

“We’re now where we want to be,” he said. We’ll go back up and try to cement our place up there, keep building each year and see where it takes us. You never know, there’s a good crop of youth coming through, and we’ll blood them in and see what happens.”