Last chance saloon for champions Newbridge

REIGNING Derry champions Newbridge enter the last chance saloon when they face Swatragh this weekend.

Both teams lost their opening round games of the new-look back door format this season.

Swatragh lost to Loup after coming from 12 points down during the first half while Newbridge were outplayed by Dungiven in a 2-15 to 0-11 defeat.

“We were seriously disappointed first and foremost in our performance,” said joint manager Gary Hetherington, who manages Newbridge alongside Kevin Brady.

“We just never got to the pitch again at all but we have to give massive credit to Dungiven.

“They were excellent and they’ve done a number on us. We had no answer for long periods of the game because they dominated the ball. If you don’t have it, you can’t do any damage so no seriously massively, massively disappointed.”

While there were twists and turns in many of the games on an entertaining opening round of game, Newbridge were always playing catch up.

There were on the wrong end of two big moments. A shanked kick-out that led to Dungiven’s second goal while a Sean Young chance in the second half whizzed across the Dungiven goalmouth. Aside from those incidents, the winners were in control.

“If truth be told we never looked like winning the game,” Hetherington added.

“We created two goal chances in the second half. Maybe if we had taken the first one, things might have been different. That may have changed the game but did we deserve that? No definitely not.”

Newbridge had previously struggled in the semi-final stage before beating Magherafelt to book a spot in last year’s final before beating All-Ireland champions Glen to land a first title in 35 years.

With their age profile and with Derry’s Paudi McGrogan available this season, they were deep in the conversation for glory again. They won both the senior and reserve leagues but Dungiven have left them backed into a corner now.

“It has put a lot of pressure on us because we know if we don’t perform the next day we’re gone,” Hetherington said of the cold hard facts.

“That’s not where we wanted to be. It’s not where we aimed to be. We aimed to defend this title with a lot more quality and a lot more determination than we did against Dungiven.

“We’re going to have to show it now. It’s going to be no easy task getting a Swatragh side who scored for fun against Loup.”

Now, it’s a mental test. They have a few injuries to consider, but getting into the game zone is the most important factor.

“It has to be that, it’s do or die,” Hetherington summed up. “On the physical side of it we have a few people we need to get right and get fit.

“In some ways we need to get fitter because they’re coming back from injuries,” he said, referring to Shane McGrogan and captain Conor McAteer coming on against Dungiven.

“Another two weeks training will set him (McGrogan) up. Conor McAteer, who hasn’t played in six or eight weeks, got 20 minutes so that will be another bonus for us.

“We just can’t rely on that; we need more men stepping up and performing better than they did the last day.”