Plunketts captain Duffin respects Gortin’s firepower

SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP FIRST ROUND

POMEROY captain Ronan Duffin has warned that Gortin have the quality up front to shoot down the Plunketts Championship ambitions this Friday night in Omagh.

Tomorrow’s clash is potentially the second of three key instalments in the rivalry between the two sides, with a league relegation play-off also looming should neither ultimately upset the odds and lift the O’Neill Cup.

That fixture is for another day though, will full attention right now on the impending Championship get-together at Healy Park.

And while Gortin have found the going tough in their first season mixing with the big boys in the top flight, Ronan Duffin has been impressed with the scoring returns some of the St Patrick’s top marksmen such as Liam Og Mossey and Sean Og McAleer have accumulated throughout their league campaign.

“They score very heavily but probably conceded too much for their liking. They are a serious threat up front (Mossey and McAleer) and it will take a serious effort to contain them. But they have other players like the two Brollys, Ruairi Keenan, who can cause you damage too. They are a very good team and they will be looking forward to playing in the Senior Championship too.

“We have played them a couple of times in recent years and they have been really tight games. You could have drawn Errigal Ciaran or Trillick and been right up against it, so this is a game in which both ourselves and Gortin will fancy it.”

Pomeroy finished up third from bottom in the Division One table, though a vital basement battle success at home to fellow strugglers Derrylaughan a few weeks ago at least warded off automatic relegation.

Duffin admits that their season as a whole hasn’t really gone to plan, even though in mitigation key players like Kieran McGeary and Frank Burns haven’t always been available for selection.

“I suppose every team has had the same issues, with injuries, holidays, lads off to America. We have a thin enough squad so it effects us more than a lot of other clubs. When you have eight or men out at times it isn’t easy to plug the gaps. It’s probably easier for your Errigals and Trilicks but some games we were really up against is.

“We did suffer a few heavy defeats in fairness and you don’t want to be making excuses for that but we did get boys back for the last few league matches which were massive for us.”

The Pomeroy captain said that however their league fate does unfold, the sole objective right now was advancing to the quarter-finals of the Senior Championship.

“Those last few league games were like the Championship for us with so much at stake in terms of staying up. We aren’t still safe in the League obviously but it’s all about focusing on that Gortin match.

“We have that play-off likely afterwards but nobody will be thinking about that next Friday night. It was a very tight game up in Pomeroy that night we met them in the league and we expect the same up in Omagh. We got a few scores near the end to pull away but the final scoreline didn’t really tell the story.”