Glenullin are no one-man band says Ballyhaise boss Keaney

By Niall Gartland

ALL the sleuthing in the world won’t necessarily fully prepare Ballyhaise for what Glenullin will bring to the table in Saturday’s Ulster Intermediate Championship semi-final in O’Neill’s Healy Park.

That’s according to Ballyhaise manager Damien Keaney, who says that they’ll pour over the video footage and all the rest of it, but that there’s still an element of stepping into the unknown when it comes to Ulster Championship matches.

The Cavan side put Downings to the sword on a scoreline of 4-15 to 0-11 in their first-round clash a fortnight ago, but Glenullin likewise made mince-meat of Glenravel so it could be a much tougher contest, especially with the likes of Eoin Bradley in breath-taking form up front.

Ballyhaise boss Keaney said: “It would be very naive not to have a look at these teams if at all possible and we’ve been able to watch a couple of Glenullin games on video.

“But it’s still difficult, we won’t know them as well as the players in our own county, but we’ll do the best we can. It is what it is and it’s the same for them as well.”

“It’s going to be a very difficult game, everyone talks about Eoin Bradley and he’s a very experienced player and going to be difficult to stop. But he’s not the only one, the likes of the McNicholls seem to be very good players so it’s going to be a tough match.”

It’s been a memorable season for the club. Their men’s footballers made amends for losing the last two Intermediate Championship finals in Cavan while their ladies landed their first-ever Intermediate title. For the supporters, it’s been a joy and the hope is that Keaney’s side can now take the considerable step of booking their place in the Ulster final.

Keaney said: “The supporters are fantastic in Ballyhaise, they’ve been lucky in the club in the sense their ladies also went on a run and were involved in Ulster.

“The supporters are used to being on the road, it’s a great journey for them and we’re all looking forward to the next outing.

“It’s all very new to the club so we’ll certainly be going out to give it our best shot. Hopefully we’ll produce a really good performance and we’ll see where that takes us.”

Ballyhaise were mightily impressive on their first day out against Donegal side Downings, particularly in attack where they mixed it up brilliantly.

Keaney said: “With the way the football has gone, teams obviously bring back a lot of bodies so it’s important to figure out ways of getting around those mass defences, so yes we try to use a mixture of long and short ball.”