Doyle eyeing up new Dromara test

COLLEGELAND never looked past the challenge presented in Armagh says manager Paul Doyle, but insists they still have to sit down and do some homework on upcoming Ulster Junior opponents Dromara.

Doyle’s men needed a replay and extra-time to eventually shake off the attentions of close rivals An Port Mór in the Armagh decider, emerging with a one-point win in the end.

Now the O’Rahilly’s, who lost to Buncrana in the 2019 Ulster quarter-final on their last visit to the provincial arena, will turn all their attention to the Down champions and try to take it at least one step further this time around.

“To be truthful, we never looked at that match because you can’t look too far ahead,” said Doyle. “We knew we had to get over An Port Mór first, now we can sit down and take a look at Dromara but I think the boys had to go and enjoy the championship win.

“They’ve really, really worked hard from January, they’ve given so much. The likes of Cathair McGeary, he lives in Cork, and he travels up the road to play for us. With the commitment those boys give, I think they deserved to enjoy the celebrations.

“As a management team, we’ll sit down and regroup. We’ll see what happens, we’re in bonus territory, anything can happen there whenever you go into Ulster.”

Doyle’s men looked in big trouble against An Port Mór and the game seemed to be slipping away from their grasp, but two substitutes made all the difference when sprung from the bench.

Shane Donnelly made his first appearance of the campaign and with his first touch, hammered home his side’s only goal. Likewise, Oliver Murphy kicked their final three points to see them capture the Sean Quinn Cup.

“The two boys have been out this long time with long-term injuries. It was a risk to play Shane, we weren’t fit to put him on the first day,” said the former Armagh minor boss. “He trained that week, and we knew that there were minutes in the legs, but it was a risk.

“Shane is an absolutely outstanding footballer and with ten minutes to go in normal time, we knew if we could get him on, he would make a difference and he scored the goal.

“Oliver Murphy has been out this last four months with injuries. He’s top quality as well, and he was able to come up and made a huge impact.

“At the end of the day it’s the team that finishes the game that wins, and we knew that we had quality to come off the bench and we were delighted with the impact of all our subs.

“We were down to 14 men for the extra-time, but we knew we had it in the legs. The boys had done a lot of work, they are very, very fit and we knew for extra-time that we had it in the legs as long as we didn’t make mistakes.”