Donaghmore captain not playing the long game

WHILE their long term prospects look bright, based on the emergence of an exciting crop of young talent, Donaghmore captain Dermot McCann insists it is the here and now which solely matters.

With another Grade One Minor double this year showcasing the depth of quality emerging at the St Patrick’s it can’t be too long before the club are knocking at the door for adult honours too.

However ahead of their Senior Championship quarter-final meeting with Clonoe this Saturday, McCann insists that nobody within the Senior camp is interested in playing the waiting game right now.

“Those young lads have all done brilliant over the past few years but we can’t just sit around until they develop and mature. We don’t want to be waiting on those boys either. We want to get the work done now and be successful now if we get the chance and maybe start introducing those boys next year.”

Donaghmore registered their first Senior Championship victory since 2015 with a hard fought 0-16 to 0-12 extra-time success against Greencastle at O’Neill’s Healy Park a fortnight ago. From a neutral’s perspective it wasn’t exactly a classic but man of the match McCann was always confident that they could last the course in a draining struggle.

“We had the hard work done in training and been non-stop in the running drills. When we pulled it back to a draw at the end of full time we knew we had it in the legs. We were just delighted to get the win, they’ve been rare enough in the Senior Championship.”

Donaghmore had been quite ragged and subdued in the first half against the ‘Castle but the skipper was one of the pivotal figures in revitalising them. He was always keen to get on the ball and embarked on some penetrating runs from deep, while also pulling off an excellent early block at the other end to deny the opposition a goal. McCann felt the run-in during the closing stages of the league had stood to them, with the team battling for points to stave off the drop.

“We didn’t really get going in the first half. We’ve had tough games towards the end of the league and that intensity stood to us going into the Championship. We won a few hard league games to make sure we stayed up so that has sharpened us up.”

When gauging the Championship draw from the outset most observers felt that Donaghmore were in the most open section, with each of the quartet harbouring realistic ambitions of making the last four. McCann disagreed with the suggestion it was a ‘weaker’ part of the draw.

“On any given day you can beat any team in Tyrone to be fair so I wouldn’t say any section of the draw is easier than the other. It doesn’t work like that because the Tyrone Championship is so unpredictable.

“We have Clonoe now who are a team with great Championship tradition. We will have to go again and see what happens. We drew with them in the league, a free kick late on, so it’s going to be another battle.”

Dermot also modestly played down his own contribution to their first round victory saying that the whole team had picked up their game after half-time.

“It was great to get the win but we know there is so much we can improve on. You just have to do your bit. Someone has to lift it and it could have been anyone of us. It was all about getting hold of the ball and making something happen.”