Paddy McGuckin aware of the St Brigid’s journey into the unknown

By Michael McMullan

LEAGUE champions St Brigid’s may be on a journey into the unknown on Sunday against Dunloy but joint manager Paddy McGuckin is fully aware of what is coming down the tracks.

Dunloy saw off Portglenone and Lámh Dhearg to book a county final spot against a Cargin team who overcame St Brigid’s in the semi-final last term.

McGuckin and younger brother John are in their second year at the helm. They steered the club to a first ever league title with a mantra of getting more consistency into their results after a “fairly indifferent” league campaign last season.

“It was a great boost for the club in that regard but obviously, as we know, the league’s there for playing in and all that”, McGuckin added, explaining how there were no major celebrations and the players were back to work for the cutting edge of the season.

Wins over Creggan and St Gall’s didn’t guarantee St Brigid’s a passport to the quarter-finals as they found themselves seven points down at half-time against Aghagallon.

“That would have knocked us out of the championship,” McGuckin said of their ‘group of death’ that went down to the last day.

St Brigid’s dug deep to find a way over the finish line, much to the delight of McGuckin. Before a championship ball was kicked, the target was simple – get to the quarter-finals and take it from there.

Looking back to last season, he acknowledges St Brigid’s had a “reasonable” championship but Cargin deserved their semi-final win. The best team won on the day. Now, it’s knock-out football again and St Brigid’s don’t need reminding of their hurdle this weekend.

While Dunloy operate in the league below, often without many of their dual players who also hurl with Antrim, the danger signals are there.

“It’s a wee bit of a journey into the unknown for us,” McGuckin pointed out. “This is our second season and we have never played Dunloy before.

“What we do know, having watched them last year, that it was an incredible season last year, getting to a county final and fully deserved too.

“If you look back a wee bit further, they won a couple of minor titles. They’ve got really talented footballers, superb athletes and serious pace about them as well.

“They deserve enormous credit for being able to perform week in and week out between the two codes and to be right up there at the top level in both.”

The game will come too soon for former Derry minor captain Matthew Downey who broke his ankle 12 weeks ago. His cousin Oran will miss out with an Achilles’ problem that needs surgery with defender John Morgan only on his way back.

“We have been hampered by injuries throughout the season but we’re starting to get a few players back,” said McGuckin who points to using in the region of 40 players across the year.

“Those are probably our main injury concerns and everyone else will hopefully be fit and well and ready to go.”