Owen Roes Kelly knows they must step it up

TYRONE INTERMEDIATE CHAMPIONSHIP

EVEN speaking in advance of last Sunday evening’s draw for the quarter-finals of the Intermediate Championship, Owen Roes defender Stephen Kelly must have sensed that they were going to be tossed into the ocean with one of the big sharks from the east.

The Roes easily dispatched with Stewartstown in the first round last Friday evening at Healy Park- 1-17 to 0-7- eventually hitting their straps after the break, Dara Dooher with the goal, and captain Cathal McShane weighing in with nine points.

However things will crank up a notch or two next time out for the Glenmornan boys who must tackle buoyant Eglish in the quarter-finals, the St Patrick’s having defeated Coalisland in front of nearly three thousand spectators last week at Dungannon in the tie of the round.

With Eglish, Moy and Clonoe each underlying why they are deemed the frontrunners for the Paddy Cullen Cup, with the nature of their victories over the weekend, Stephen Kelly appreciates that Owen Roes still have a huge amount to do if they are to be successful in the Championship.

“We will get on with our own business but again they (title rivals) are being talked about for that reason. They each have that pedigree in them. If we do face them down the line then we will have to raise our game and reach that standard because ultimately if you want to win a Championship you are going to have to beat those guys somewhere along the line.”

Owen Roes eventually justified their favourites tag in condemning struggling Stewartstown to the drop out of Intermediate football on Friday, though their centre-half back is acutely aware that vast improvement will be required next time out.

“I think everyone had us down as heavy favourites coming in. Even in camp that can put a bit of pressure on men. You have to perform. It’s probably something over the years we are not well used to.

“We are always put down as the underdogs with a lot of hard luck stories in our past. So these are the ones that can be a banana skin and catch you on the hop.”

Kelly ensured that Owen Roes kept a clean sheet with a stunning goal-line block to deny Gareth Devlin deep into injury time and overall he was fairly satisfied with their evening’s work.

“We went in at half-time and assessed it as we were disappointed to be honest. We had a lot of missed chances and should have been further ahead.

“At the end of the day we had a good purple patch for the first fifteen minutes of the second half which opened the gap and it was just about seeing it out. But if you beat a team well you were never going to take a lot out of it either so at least we are through to the next round. We have things though to work on and improve on.”