Howe happy to see Killyclogher reach league semis

ONLY time will tell if reaching the Division One semi-finals proves to be a double edged sword, Killyclogher manager Kieran Howe believes.

St Mary’s booked their berth in the last four with a 3-8 to 1-7 victory over Dromore at Gardrum Park last Sunday, two first half goals from sub Tiernan Cox setting them on their way, and the Ballinamullan boys now join Carrickmore, Errigal Ciaran and Trillick in the Senior League semis.

Those contests are expected to go ahead on the weekend of September 10/11th, ensuring that quartet another competitive outing ahead of the Championship a fortnight later.

However the corollary of that of course is the risk of injuries to key men, and with Emmet McFadden, Mark Bradley and Matthew Murnaghan all departing the action last weekend in the first half with potential knocks and twinges, Killyclogher can ill-afford an expanding casualty list.

So while pleased on the one hand to still be in contention for league honours, Kieran Howe appreciates that it won’t be until after their rematch with Dromore in the first round of the Senior Championship, whether he can determine if an extended ACL campaign has proven beneficial or not.

“ It’s hard to know. Hindsight will probably determine if it’s a bonus or not. It’s been jumped about when they (semis) will be played, after the Championship or before the Championship. We will be happy with the competitive game if it’s played before the Championship.

“ A three week gap would probably be too big so in that regard it’s good to have a semi-final to look forward to. If all the top four teams are already through you don’t really know how strong teams are going to field next week, though obviously one or two will have a bearing on the bottom of the table. But competitive games are good preparation.”

While no specific date has been mooted as yet for the Senior League Final, Howe cautions that it would be unwise to pencil it in for the weekend of Septemebr 17/18th, literally days before the Senior Championship is to be launched.

“ Squuezing the League Final in then might be asking too much. Most teams will be thinking about their Championship match at that point not a League Final, which unfortunately then would take way from the competition so we will see what they do with that. Hopefully we will be in that situation anyway with a League Final to worry about.”

While Dromore last weekend rested up all their key men, Killyclogher in contrast fielded a much stronger team before withdrawing the likes of Bradley and Murnaghan early on. Howe conceded that it is always a precarious choice finalising a starting fifteen at this stage of the season, with the Championship looming.

“ We knew Mark had a tight hamstring so he shouldn’t be too bad and we will have to see what Matthew’s situation is after he went off. But that’s the risks you take when you select a team for any match, hindsight is always great. When it happened so early in the game it looked like the wrong decision alright.

“ This will have no bearing at all come the Championship match. I’d say Dromore had about four first choice players on maybe, that was about the height of it. Our boys were manoeuvring at about 60 per cent too.”

Killyclogher round off their regular league programe away to Ardboe on Sunday, a match with little significance for either side. Howe felt it would provide an opportunity to trawl his squad and give others a run-out.

“ If you have any league ambitions you are going to want a home fixture. But I suppose the fact we have qualified will allow us maybe to try out one or two players and focus more on the Championship game coming up. We can start thinking about those things now that the Reserves are out of the way as well now.”