Mitchels fighting back from the brink

THREE years ago, Newry Mitchel’s were on the brink of extinction. The threat remains very real, but for senior captain Shane Cooney and his teammates, they are willing to keep on fighting for survival.

This Sunday, Shorty Trainor’s side will attempt to reach the semi-finals of the Junior Championship when they come up against Dundrum (Drumgath, 2pm).

Regardless of the result, that will be a good day as they try to build on their win over St Michael’s in the last round.

November 28, 2017 wasn’t such a good day as the four-time senior champions had to take the drastic action of calling a public meeting in the Canal Court Hotel in order to gain community input into how to save the club.

It was an unenviable position but it did lead to the first shoots of recovery appearing.

The club still doesn’t field any teams below senior level, but there is a growing hope that some of the youth of the border city will be wearing the red and white in the coming years.

“It was a very real danger,” said Cooney. “A lot of people had resigned themselves to the fact that, at the meeting, it was over.

“When you have no underage teams for a couple of seasons it becomes scary. It’s a matter of the older boys hanging in and trying to keep it going until players start to come through.

“Even if we got one team set up, an u-12 team or something, that would be a huge boost to everyone.”

Cooney, now in his 23rd year with the senior team, said that there are still many barriers to overcome before the club that produced players like Sean O’Neill, Kevin O’Neill and Val Kane can feel that they are out of the red.

“There have been some positive signs, but there is a serious amount of work still to be done,” he said.

“The club is starting from scratch with no kids, and that is a very hard situation.

“We have a small member base, so there is not a massive queue of people there to do the work.

“We have people around the club who basically do everything. They are maybe burnt out and you’re asking them to go to the well again. I think a few fresh faces would definitely be a big help.”

A competitive senior team always raises interest levels and the Mitchel’s remain in the hunt for junior honours following a 0-15 to 2-8 win over St Michael’s two weeks ago. Cooney feels that the arrival of Trainor has brought real life to the team.

“The arrival of Shorty was a big thing for us.

“Shorty coming in has given everyone a boost. A few boys came back on board, the likes of my brother Shannon, Eoin Flynn and Connor Owens and that’s been a great help.

“Myself and Cillian McLogan, who’d be older than me, were going to step away this year but when you get someone like Shorty coming in you change your mind. It’s not every day you get the chance to play for a man like that.

“A couple of young lads have come back, boys in their early 20s. The senior team is the shop window for clubs but, unfortunately given our situation, it is our entire shop window so this has given everyone a boost.

“We were late starting. We only had three weeks of training and then the whole coronavirus thing kicked in.

“We won a couple of challenge games, we won our first league game (v Aghaderg) and we were very unlucky in our second league game against Drumaness, they hit a goal with the last kick.

“We made hard work in the championship against St Michael’s. We conceded a penalty at the end to go a point down but we went up the field and kicked two points. We always seem to do things the hard way.

“We have played Dundrum in maybe four of the last five championships and they have always had the better of us. But we are definitely going into it with a bit more confidence.”

n.mccoy@gaeliclife.com

JFC quarter-finals

Ardglass v Aughlisnafin

(Saturday, Ballykinlar, 2pm)

This is the second meeting of these sides in a matter of weeks with Aughlisnafin winning the first clash 3-13 to 0-8. Shea Croskery was in superb form in that game while the very talented Adam Garland helped himself to 2-3. Paul O’Shea’s Ardglass responded by edging out Aghaderg with the likes of Mark Magennis, Adam Mulhall and Michael Magee popping up with late scores as the 14 men finished strongly.

Verdict: Aughlisnafin

Drumaness v Kilclief

(Saturday, Saul, 2pm)

Both these sides have won all four games to date this season, three in the league and one in the championship. Drumaness started the Junior Championship with a 1-13 to 0-6 win over Aghaderg with Aaron Somers standing out. Kilclief, meanwhile, were comfortable 1-14 to 0-7 victors against East Belfast. Expect this one to be tight but Drumaness may just have enough to edge through.

Verdict: Drumaness

St Paul’s v Glasdrumman

(Saturday, Bright, 2pm)

St Paul’s really look like genuine championship contenders but this is a tricky tie. They have won their first three league games and they hit four goals in their championship opener against the Mitchel’s despite chief scorer Sean Tucker missing out through injury. Daire Rooney, Daniel Eastwood, Chris Shannon and Niall Grimley grabbed their goals. Glasdrumman had two points to spare against St Michael’s in the first round. They trailed by two at the break and did well to turn it around.

Verdict: St Paul’s

By Niall McCoy