Wolfe Tones still have fire in their belly, says Ferguson

By Niall Gartland

PROMOTION has already been banked by virtue of a long-awaited league title, but Drumquin boss Stephen Ferguson says that they are going all guns blazing in the pursuit of Junior Championship glory.

The Wolfe Tones found their groove in the second-half of their first-round tie against Brackaville, Ferguson’s home club, but they’ll need to produce a more consistent performance if they’re to account for a formidable Killeeshil side in Sunday afternoon’s eagerly anticipated quarter-final clash at Pomeroy.

Killeeshil are the only side to have mustered a victory against Drumquin all season, a remarkable statistic that tells its own story, and Ferguson says they’ll do everything in their power to ensure lightning doesn’t strike twice.

“Everybody keeps saying that Drumquin have won the league and they’ll sit back but this is a hungry group of players and we’re here to win a Championship.

“It only takes four matches to win a Junior Championship, it’s all about the hurdles and we’ve got over the first one.

“This next game against Killeeshil is going to be massive. Everybody talks about Killeeshil and Aghaloo being favourites for the title, and for me it’s Killeeshil that are the favourites.

“Two or three years ago under Stephen McHugh, they took Galbally to extra-time in an Intermediate Championship semi-final. They’re an Intermediate team and probably shouldn’t be down in Junior football, they’ve been unlucky. They’ll be favourites but we’ll be ready for them.”

Ferguson is an experienced manager who led Tattyreagh to successive Junior and Intermediate Championship titles alongside the aforementioned McHugh in 2017 and 2018.

He disagrees with the assertion that the pressure is off Drumquin having already secured the Division Three title.

“I would disagree, I would say that there’s more pressure, there’s a target on our backs. We won the league and everyone wants to beat us. It’s going to be very difficult to do the double, it’s rarely done in Tyrone at Senior, Intermediate or Junior level as the leagues are so competitive.

“But we’re hungry and have the fire in the belly and we’re looking forward to it. Killeeshil are the only team to dominate us this year, they taught us a bit of a lesson in the league so it’s a massive challenge.”

Drumquin enter the quarters on the back of a 2-19 to 0-9 victory over Brackaville in the first round. It wasn’t quite as convincing as the final scoreline suggests.

“We didn’t play well in the first-half and we let Brackaville dictate the game but we got going and started playing the football we can play.”