Killeeshil embracing the big day – says manager Martin

DAYS like these don’t come around too often, so Killeeshil boss Lorcan Martin says his team are relishing the opportunity to take to the field in Sunday’s Junior Championship final against Aghaloo.

Killeeshil have won only two Adult Championships in their history – an Intermediate title in 1986 and Junior triumph in 2013 – so they’re determined to make the most of the occasion in every sense.

They can call upon a number of veteran performers from the title-winning team of 2013, but this is a brand new experience for the majority of the panel.

Not that they’ll be rabbits in the headlights – only two years ago they brought Galbally to extra-time in a gripping Intermediate Championship semi-final clash, while lads like Tomas Hoy and Cormac Donaghy were part of the Tyrone team that won the inaugural All-Ireland U-17 Championship in 2017.

Looking ahead to Sunday’s Junior showdown, manager Lorcan Martin said: “It’s 11 years since they’ve been in that final. For any club, there’s a huge buzz associated with getting to a final and I know from my own playing days [with Eglish] that finals don’t come around too often. I played in maybe three finals at adult level and they’re a brilliant experience for all involved.

“We have maybe five or six lads who played in the 2013 final – the likes of Packie McMullan, Gary Reilly, Ciaran Reilly, Ciaran O’Neill, Bernard O’Neill. Then we’ve a lot of young lads who have come through in the last number of years and it’s new to a lot of them.

“ You want to savour these experiences as much as you can, you have to enjoy it when you get the opportunity.”

Killeeshil finished third in the table in Division Three behind Drumquin and their Junior Championship Final opponents Aghaloo. But right from the opening round of the Championship, where they accounted with Clann na nGael with ease, you could sense that they would have a big say in things.

They claimed a surprisingly comfortable victory over Drumquin in the quarter-finals before seeing off Strabane in the last-four, and Martin says their win over the league champions was particularly gratifying.

“I suppose it was always going to be hard for Drumquin to achieve a League and Championship double, it happens very very rarely. I suppose we had that sense that maybe we’d be a bit hungrier and that’s no disrespect to Drumquin.

“We haven’t touched any silverware as of yet this year so our boys were very very driven going into that game, and it was one of those Championship performances you don’t get very often.”

Lorcan was drafted in as Killeeshil manager in the first week of July and he has thoroughly enjoyed his time with the club.

“They’re brilliant, it’s a very welcoming and well-organised club. They’ve superb underage structures and you look at the calibre of men involved – ‘Hub’ Hughes, Ciaran Reilly, Shane Mallon and more, they’re boys who have played a serious amount of senior football and are investing their time back into the club.

“There’s also a great connection between the ladies, men’s and underage teams – Gary Currie is involved with us as selector and has been the Ladies manager for the last couple of years. It’s definitely a very well-run club with a brilliant committee and they’ve been very supportive all year.”

There’s still one more step and it’s a big one. Aghaloo have had a similarly impressive season so whoever comes out on top this Sunday will have to earn it.

“They were the form team throughout the league this year and were pipped by the post when Drumquin beat them in one of the last games. Winning is a habit and they’ve been in formidable form throughout the Championship.

“They’re neighbours of Killeeshil and a lot of the lads went to St Ciaran’s and the Academy together, but they haven’t actually played against each other an awful lot as they’ve been at two different grades. It makes for a very interesting final – it’s two sets of players who don’t know each other as well as people might think.”