Hugh hoping for better from Errigal against Glenelly

VAST improvement is being demanded by Errigal Ciaran Thirds manager Hugh Quinn as they close in on their Junior Championship quarter-final meeting with Glenelly this weekend.

Errigal were the first side to book their passage into the last eight by virtue of a 2-10 to 0-7 triumph over Killyman in the opening round. A cracking first half finish from Sean Mellon and late David Harte penalty were the goal strikes which provided them with a sizeable enough cushion come the final whistle.

Despite fine individual displays from the likes of Connor McAleer and team captain Damian McDermott, the manager believed that collectively their display fell way short of the standards required to make a real impact in the Championship.

“ We just got over the line and that is all we wanted to do. I suppose we all know we will need to play a lot better the next day.

“ We were a bit flat and our boys will know themselves they didn’t play to the standard that they will want to play at and that they are capable of playing at.

“ We were going well in the League coming up to the Championship so we were hopeful of putting in a better performance but at the end of the day it’s like any first round game, no matter the performance you just want to win it.”

A serial winner at the highest level with the club back in the day, Quinn hopes that strengthened playing resources in recent weeks will improve Errigal third string’s chances of making their mark in the Championship.

“ We drafted a few lads back in again who travelled during the summer so we will see how they help us. Those boys know themselves we will need to play a lot better the next day but at least we have the opportunity to do that.

“ That is the main plus point. I have sat in dressing rooms manys a time where you haven’t played well and you are knocked out and there is no next game to try and atone. At least we have that now.

“ We are happy enough. We didn’t come down the road to do anything else but be in a position the next morning to plan for the next game and we did that. We will see how it goes the next day.”

Errigal now come up against a team in Glenelly who were almost on the wrong end of the shock of the first round when just squeezing past bottom of the table Urney by a single point, 0-15 to 0-11.

The St Joseph’s shot fourteen wides over the course of the hour, and no doubt will look back on that scare as a sobering wake-up call, though there is no doubting the calibre of the likes of Cormac McBride, Conor McAneny and Lorcan McCullagh.

Inspite of that indifferent showing against Urney, Errigal manager Hugh Quinn still holds them in the highest regard.

“ In terms of league places everyone would have expected Glenelly to push on handy enough but as well all know the Championship doesn’t work like that. You can always get a shock or two along the way.

“ They gave us a bit of a lesson in the league so we have the video of that game to look at and see where we are.

“ There is five or six teams in Division Three football in Tyrone who are fairly useful and Glenelly would definitely be one of them. They finished fourth in the table and picked up a fair few points along the way so we have a lot of work to do to try and see if we can turn things around from the league meeting anyway.”