Derrygonnelly must play to their best

Leigh Jones of Derrygonnelly rifles a shot in from the sideline in the Erne final

Ulster Club Senior Football Championship – Slaughtneil v Derrygonnelly Harps – Sunday, Celtic Park, 2.30pm

DERRYGONNELLY have a right to feel frustrated about the draw for this year’s Ulster Club Championship, as for the second year in a row they have been paired against the might of Slaughtneil.

Last year, they were resoundingly trounced by Mickey Moran’s side, and they will have to up their game massively if they are to turn that result around.

Manager Martin Greene explained the problem they face.

“When you are playing the overall favourites you know you are going to be up against it. They are strong favourites.

“We like to think that we can give ourselves a chance. We want to right the wrongs of last year.”

The key for them to beat the champions is adopting the right attitude – that’s what Greene thinks.

“We have to get them mentally prepared. Our players want to step up, they want to compete.

“We have won the double double in Fermanagh. We know we are at the standard we want to play at.

“But we are also aware that we have to play out of our skin to win this game.”

Last year, Slaughtneil beat Derrygonnelly by 4-13 to 1-4. That’s a result that they haven’t forgotten.

“After last year they were itching to get through Fermanagh so that they could prove themselves. They are aware that it is not going to be easy though.

“Hopefully we are a lot better prepared. We have talked about where we went wrong. We have tried to work out where we went wrong, and put together a plan to give us a better chance.”

“They are loaded with great players. And they play a very open style of football. They go man to man, they like to play 15 on 15. They have a lot of leaders and a lot of quality in their line up, and they don’t seem to pick up too many injuries either.

“We have the utmost respect for them.”

The full interview with Martin Greene is available in store today or online here.