Aghaloo braced for a busy August

AGHALOO have recorded two victories post holiday break to put them right in the mix of sides chasing joint leaders Fintona and Cookstown who meet this weekend.

Wins in Drumragh and at home to Eskra mean Aghaloo are placed in joint third place on 16 points approaching this weekend’s fixture double. They are at home to Urney in the first of those games and then travel to Cookstown in their second weekend outing.

Aghaloo keeper Neil McKenna and the camp are glad to have improved their table position after a tricky enough time on the injury front for the squad. McKenna himself picked up an injury in the first round of the league and was only back between the posts for their narrow victory over Drumragh two weeks ago when the returning keeper made some key saves.

Those recent successes over Drumragh and Eskra have helped morale in the squad, as the keeper explained:

‘’ As a keeper I was probably busier than you want to be in a good tussle with Drumragh. They created some goal opportunities that we managed to avert and then to dig out the win late on was encouraging.

‘’ We followed up with a victory at home to Eskra on Friday but they came back at us well during the second half and thankfully we got a late goal to seal the league points.

‘’ Every team experiences injury problems at some stage and we’ve had our share over recent weeks. Hopefully, though, those lads will be back on board soon as the league reaches an important stage and then there is the championship getting closer too’’, added the O’Neill’s custodian.

Attention now turns to a busy weekend ahead as Aghaloo face the St Columba’s and Fr Rocks inside the space of a few days. Neil McKenna and the squad are looking forward to the challenges as they strive to keep pace with the teams around them:

“ There won’t be much recovery time in between games this weekend but that applies to all those with double fixtures planned. We meet Urney at home and we are prepared for a tough game before thinking about our trip to Cookstown.

“ First up, the Fr Rocks meet Fintona and that has the makings of a great game between the two unbeaten teams at the top. Whatever happens in that one, we will face a tight test then against Cookstown two days later.

“ The league is shaping up for an interesting finish and several sides are showing good form in what is a competitive division. Come championship time, there will be plenty of teams aiming to make an impact and fingers crossed we can get into the mix as well’’, remarked McKenna.

The dawn of August and then into early September brings with it six league rounds left to play plus the championship will be waiting in the wings as well, so there is plenty to focus on for Aghaloo and all the Division Three sides.

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