Hanna insists players focused on task at hand

RYAN Hanna insists his players will be fully focused on trying to win the Mulhern Cup for a sixth time when they lock horns with Dergview Reserves in Friday’s showpiece final at Ferney Park.

This season has been dogged by controversy with protests, appeals and a letter of complaint – some of which both finalists have been involved in – but Hanna insists that the outside noise will not be a factor when his players cross the white line tomorrow (Friday) evening.

The Tummery player-manager said his players will prepare well for the game while those behind the scenes can get on with the job of sorting out any other business.

“For the players it’s not much of a distraction, for them it’s just about being kept in the loop on a need to know basis,” said the Enniskillen man.

“For us, it’s no different than any other season. Yes, there are distractions but there are different distractions across every season so we will take the game on Friday night on its own merit.

“We’ll try and prepare the best we can, we’ll only focus on the league games after that again.

“The final will be a welcome distraction for us because we were poor on Saturday when we dropped points in the league (at Lisbellaw), so hopefully it will be a bounce back for us.

“Yes there are different permutations, but, you know, if you allow yourself to get distracted you will. If we remain focused on the task at hand, which most of the players should, then I see no excuse for any distractions.

“We’ll let the people in those positions sort out those different situations, ultimately we are just players and we’ll be trying to win the game.”

Tummery will go into the final decider as firm favourites, given their past record in the competition and on the back off an impressive run to the final.

The Dromore side defeated Enniskillen Athletic, Killen Rangers and Mountfield before seeing off old adversaries Enniskillen Rangers on penalties in the semi-final.

Hanna accepts the smart money may well be on his team but the Athletic boss says the Darragh Park second string have proved their pedigree in cup competitions in recent seasons.

“Look, I don’t know, you look at the pedigree of Dergview Reserves. They won the Junior Cup last year under AC (Andy Sproule), they have been really strong in the cups,” he added.

“We had a really tough game against them in the quarter-final of the Junior, we had a real good run-in with them a couple of seasons ago in the league. This team has quality, credit to AC and the lads because the first team at that club is the priority and so their team changes from week to week.

“I suppose a bit like ourselves, they have a wee bit of ineligibility and that changes the team. He’s brought in a few and introduced a couple of young lads with the more experienced lads.

“They grinded out their semi-final; I went down to watch it. Augher are a difficult team to play against, very direct, strong and physical, and I thought for the most part Dergview matched that. When they got the goal, they showed their quality.

“If you looking at the league and how we have performed over the whole space of the year, you could probably say that (we are favourites) but look it’s the cup and it all comes down to the night and who performs.”

During their route to the final, Tummery haven’t always been at their best, and, yet, at times they have produced some vintage football.

At Killen Rangers in round two, the Dromore visitors looked down and out but a fortuitous equaliser in stoppage-time forced the tie into extra-time and Athletic ran out convincing 4-1 winners.

“It’s been something of a mixed bag, to be perfectly honest. The chips have been down in a lot of games in the cups this season but ultimately we stepped up and I suppose that’s why we have got to the latter stages of both competitions.

“You could probably say that, at times, we have produced our best football in the Mulhern across all the rounds.”