Eskra’s Kelly hopes to be hitting form at the right time

JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP FIRST RD

By Niall Gartland

UP and coming Eskra footballer Luke Kelly is confident that they’re hitting form at the right time ahead of Saturday’s Junior Championship first-round clash against neighbours Augher at Dunmoyle.

While the Emmetts finished mid-table in Division 3A outside of the reckoning for promotion, they enjoyed a strong finish to the league with three wins from their final four matches.

So there’s a sense of optimism heading into the championship, and Luke Kelly, who at 20 years old is already in his third year on the senior scene, says that the influx of young players such as himself is a boost for the club.

“I think we’ve a good mix of boys who are more experienced with a lot of younger lads.

“It’s the first time in a long time that we’ve a lot of younger players coming into the team which is great to see.

“Then on top of that we have some really experienced lads who are some of our best players. They’ve won championship titles, and a couple of years ago won the Division Three league, so they’re great to have around.”

Eskra happened to play Augher in their final league match, running out very comfortable victors on a scoreline of 3-22 to 1-9. It was your quintessential dead rubber and Kelly is expecting a very different sort of game this Saturday.

“I think there’s going to be a big championship feel to it, especially given we’re bordering clubs, so we’re really looking forward to it.

“Both teams had a lot of boys missing that day, so I wouldn’t read anything into it. It’ll be a fair bit different in the championship. I think it’ll be a much better game.”

Kelly also enjoyed the first season of the new structures in Junior league football.

Eskra were placed in Division 3A and participated in home and away games against all their opponents, and he hopes that the experience will stand them in the Championship.

It won’t be easy to make their mark with teams like Clogher and Cookstown lurking around the corner, should they surmount the first hurdle, but Eskra have championship pedigree and it’ll be interesting to see how they fare.

“I like the split as it gave us more competitive games. We’d a rocky enough start but we steadied things up and finished quite strongly, so I think we’re building well for the Championship.”