League win would be ‘savage achievement’ says Aghadrumsee manager

By Mark McGoldrick

AGHADRUMSEE manager Jason O’Connor said he’s under “no illusions” of the challenge his team will face when they take on Roslea at Brewster Park in the Division Two final on Sunday.

The St Macartan’s men enjoyed a strong league, winning seven games from nine, which included a 22-point victory over their decider opponents Roslea in their final game on Friday night.

Roslea were absent a raft of key players for the game and the Aghadrumsee manager, who took over the reigns last season and guided them to the junior championship, is expecting a tough test.

“We’re under no illusions of the quality that Roslea have,” explained O’Connor.

”People would just pick out Seán and Seamie [Quigley], but they’ve got Niall Cosgrove, Oisin Toye, Martin Beggan and players all over the place that can hurt you.

“We need to have a good day and have most players putting in a nine out of 10 performance.”

The winner of the league final will secure promotion to Division One next season and O’Connor says that it was one of the main targets that his side set at the start of the year.

“People might be dismissive and think that in years gone by, Aghadrumsee wouldn’t have been good enough to make a league final,” St Macartan’s boss O’Connor said.

“We all collectively sat down and said we wanted to push the league as hard as we could and try and get up into Division One and we’re there on merit.”

When they’re on form, Aghadrumsee are a formidable opponent. Talismanic forward Eddie Courtney is as good as there is, with Enda McCabe and Dale Crudden also skilled attackers.

Aghadrumsee have a strong platform around the middle with Darren Kearns and Aodhan Durnien.

The St Macartan’s boss is full of praise for the effort that his players have put in this season.

“From day one I’m happy with the boys. If you see what the boys are doing at training, you’d know why. No matter what the boys are asked to do, no matter what time, they just go at it,” he said.

While O’Connor says that winning the Division Two league title would be a “savage achievement” for his players, Aghadrumsee are also remaining focused on having a strong championship run.

“If we can get into Division One, it would be a savage achievement for the boys,” he explained.

“In the championship, you’ve got Irvinestown, Belcoo haven’t had a great run but they’ll still be dangerous and you’ve got Roslea and Tempo who are going well.

“The goal is to stay in it and once we’re safe, just go hard at it. We’ve got nothing to lose.”