Keeper Colgan feels the young guns now driving on Drumragh

JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL

ON the evidence of this Championship campaign to date, there is clearly a kick in some of Drumragh’s more seasoned operators just yet but one of those loyal servants Paddy Colgan feels that the leadership baton has already been passed onto the younger generation in the squad.

The 32-year old goalkeeper would dearly love a tranquil autumn Saturday evening standing between the sticks at Healy Park as the rest of the Sarsfields squad go all out in pursuit of the Pat Darcy Cup against Clogher, but he doubts it will that straightforward.

Nonetheless Paddy, a long time defender in the side before donning the keeper’s gloves this season, believes that the Drumragh team have taken massive strides since they were last in this position, when they lost out to Fintona in the 2023 Junior decider.

“I think our squad has really developed and matured since then. I see that being one of the older men in the squad myself.

“ You look out the pitch at Eoin and Aaron Montgomery and Niall (McCarney). They have come on leaps and bounds and are the real leaders in the team now. I know they will take us forward into next week and hopefully we’ll all be able to celebrate afterwards.”

The Drumragh netminder was naturally thrilled to see the side overcome Cookstown in last Saturday’s extra-time thriller though he joked that the nature of their late come from behind triumph denied him his moment in the spotlight.

“It was looking like penalties there which would have been dramatic. I suppose when you are the keeper there you can’t really lose as even if you save one out of five you might be the hero. But thankfully the lads were brilliant towards the end and they weren’t needed.”

Only victory for either side this Saturday will copper fasten their promotion to Intermediate football in 2026, something which Colgan believes adds an extra later of intrigue to proceedings.

“It was the same situation with Fintona two years ago. They would have gained promotion if we hadn’t beaten Cookstown in the semi-final. I suppose it should add a bit of an edge and bite to the contest because Clogher have something extra to fight for now too.

“ They are a really good team. We have played them a couple of times in the league in close encounters and they have some really top players. They know all about us and we know all about them so it should be another real ding dong battle.

“ We regard ourselves as one of the big hitters at this level too and if you want to be the best you have to beat the best.

“We have seen each other a lot at Junior and Intermediate. But as I said our younger boys have that bit more experience now than they had in that last final two years ago so that should stand to us.”

Reflecting on the epic semi-final replay victory over the Fr Rocks, Paddy felt that nobody should be surprised that the match came down to small margins, albeit he added that the black card for their captain Niall McCarney, at a late stage when they led by eight points, was a pivotal moment.

“Cookstown are obviously league champions and we have had some great battles with them all year. We knew after the last night it was going to come down to the wire again. We just had to roll our sleeves up and go for it. They also really went for it but sure that’s what it is all about in a Championship semi-final.

“The big moment was Niall getting the black card, that was unfortunate. In fairness to them they really took their chances during that period and that is why they are such a good team.

“They got a real run on us in injury time and then the start of extra-time.

“But once we got Niall back in midfield that made all the difference. He is a dream for me as a keeper, how you can target him with kick-outs, and get us going the other way. He was also able to kick a few vital scores as well to get us over the line.”

The Drumragh number one also stressed that they won’t look at the quick seven day turnaround to the Eire Ogs clash in a negative light.

“It’s no real difference to the league season where you are playing week on week anyway.

“I think we are very fit, Shane and Keeno (coach Ryan Keenan) have done a good job on that all year. We’ll get the recovery now and be ready for Clogher next weekend.

“This is our third final in a short enough period but you never know if you will get to another one so we have to make the most of this opportunity.”