Aghyaran captain expects another season long battle

HAVING suffered the agony of promotion play-off losses several times over the years, few teams are more familiar with the pitfalls that can lie ahead in Tyrone Intermediate League football than Aghyaran.

St Davog’s got their latest Division Two campaign off to a winning start last Friday night when they carved out a 1-11 to 0-10 victory on the road against Clogher, an early second half goal from Ethan McHugh proving to be the pivotal score.

Midfielder and team captain Ciaran McGlinchey was one of a number of players in the visitors ranks to stand out on a gloomy night weather wise.

He was pleased with the outcome, adding that they knew to expect a tough battle heading into St Patrick’s Park.

“ We expected nothing less coming up here. Clogher was always going to be a dogfight. Last year our match with them ended up a draw with the lack kick of the game. We knew that this year it was going to be no different.

“ They have some excellent players in the likes of Conor Shields, Marc McConnell, Ciaran Bogue. You have to try and keep those boys quiet and thankfully we managed it.

“ We knew we hadn’t played great in the first half. One we got our running game going we improved, the first goal came through that tactic. Benny (Galen) was able to flick the ball to Ethan and he finished it well.”

Getting points on the board early on will be key for any team harbouring promotion ambitions this season, but mapping out Aghyaran’s early schedule of games McGlinchey admits it will be no easy task to secure victories.

“ It is good to get the season going on a positive note but we have Moortown, Owen Roes, Derrylaughan and Greencastle in the first few weeks. It is just so competitive every single week.

“ Anybody can beat anybody especially in this Division so we won’t be looking too far ahead of ourselves. We have Moortown next weekend after they had a good win against Derrylaughan so that will be another touch challenge.

“ Moortown are coming down after two years in Division One. They are a battle-hardened good young team so we will have our work cut out for us. They probably think they should be an established senior club so they won’t want to be down in Intermediate for too long.”

Aghyaran are again managed this season by Donegal native Bernard McGeehan, now in his second year at the helm. And McGinchey stresses that the objective has to be a return to the top flight.

“ We have been there or thereabouts knocking on the door for a few seasons now. We know what it takes to be up competing at the top of the league but getting over the line is the next step.”