Slane satisfied with ‘Castle’s season start

WEEKLY dogfights will become common place for Greencastle as they continue their bid to quickly reclaim their senior status, new boss Sean-Paul Slane has warned.

St Patrick’s have won all three outings in Division Two so far, continuing their 100 per cent winning start by accounting for Fintona last Friday night at St Lawrence’s Park 0-12 to 0-9.

Two Divisions separated these teams last season but the Pearses- the 2023 Junior champions- more than held their own in an engaging struggle before the visitors pulled away down the home straight.

Loughmacrory native Slane took over the managerial reins at Greencastle over the winter, following their relegation last term. He cautioned that his squad know they are there to be shot at now because of their recent stay in the top flight.

“ It’s a dogfight plus with us having just come down teams will be gunning for us. We realise that and know we are never going to run away with any of these games. If we are coming out as one point or two point winners then it will be more than enough for us.

“ Points in the bag is the main thing. We will just keep building on it. We have Beragh next week and they will bring their own challenge. They won’t be soft either.”

Greencastle showed in several matches last year that they can mix it with the big guns when they have their full arsenal to choose from. Sean-Paul Slane felt that the signs were optimistic looking ahead, because of the influx of exciting youngsters, as well as the sustained fine form of more seasoned operators.

“ You can get into that rut of bouncing up and down. You try and build and stabilise and when you are up, you hope to bring through a couple of players. We have a couple of Tyrone Minors this year which helps and another couple in the Development Squad. They bring back a wee bit with them too.

“ Then you have the experience of the older boys which still brings a lot- boys like Sean (Warnock), Cahir (McCullagh) and Mark (Carson).”

Greencastle probably could have avoided the nervy finale to the Fintona match if they had pushed ahead on the scoreboard when bossing the third quarter.

As it was the Pearses came back to level the contest at 0-8 apiece heading into the last ten minutes, before St Patrick’s pulled clear again. Slane remained pleased at how they pulled the result out of the bag.

“ We weren’t playing the way we should have been but we are building and it helps. Young lads are coming in and the older lads are pulling them along by the scruff of the neck. That can only be good in the future.”

The new boss revealed that he has been encouraged by the attitude and character within the camp since stepping into the hot seat. He also singled out their young skipper Miceal McCann for special praise

“ He is a good young captain, maybe the youngest in the history of the club. But he is leading well and pushing on well.

“ It’s a passion for us all. Boys are putting in a shift at training and in matches and working hard. It’s easy sometimes to pay your fiver in and ridicule the lads.

“ There is nobody standing back, and that’s something you can’t afford to do in football anyway. You would soon get a rude awakening.”

Slane also credited the display put in by Fintona last Friday night and was confident they had the quality and spirit to hold their own at Intermediate level.

“ Fintona were immense. They tackled us like dogs. Everytime we went through in the first half there was five or six of them around every man. We couldn’t breakthrough at all.  They beat Stewartstown last week so that gave them a lift too. I don’t see them being in any bother, I think they will definitely pick up enough points.”