Naomh Eoghan’s Traynor upbeat about Moy match

SIX years of progress in Division Two of the All-County League have left the players and management at Naomh Eoghan anxious to push even further forward by making a strong challenge for Intermediate Championship honours.

The Newtownstewart and Dregish combination finished mid-table this year. It’s 2018 since Newtownstewart won promotion via a Junior championship triumph and they’d love to add to that by taking the Paddy Cullen Cup. Whether or not they’re capable of achieving that target is something which will become a lot clearer in the coming weeks, but the ambition and ability is definitely there for them.

Conor Traynor believes that the momentum which they gained during the closing stages of their league campaign will stand to them. But they’ll have to be on top form against a Moy side just down from senior and with an established Championship pedigree.

“The team finished up well in the league in the last five or six games. We picked up a bit of momentum, it’s hard to beat winning games and hopefully now we can keep that going in the Championship,” he said.

“There’s a good feeling within the camp. We’re fairly well established at intermediate level. The club has been in Intermediate for six years and unfortunately, we haven’t picked up a Championship win. Hopefully everything will go well and we can produce the performance to get over the line.

“Moy beat us by four down in Newtownstewart, but it was nip and tuck. They have a few talented players so it’s going to be a tough game against Michael and Declan Conroy and the two Cavanaghs.”

Naomh Eoghan are hoping to put a dampener on Moy’s Championship aspirations, and there’s no doubt that this will be a game that could spring a surprise or two.

“We had a slow start at the start of the league against some of the top teams. But then we managed to get a few lads back in the team towards the middle of the league season. It shows what we can do with a full team readily available,” added Conor.

“It was nice to pick up a few points towards the end. We had five wins from our last six games and now the target is to keep building on that in the Championship.”