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By Niall Gartland
THE Rock got off to a winning start last Friday night with a convincing victory away to Strabane, and their experienced captain Aidan Girvan recognises the importance of getting early points on the board.
The 32-year-old says the influx of youthful talent into the squad has been a big motivating factor in his decision to carry on fighting the good fight for his club, and talented young players like Liam Nugent and Shane Murphy played a huge part in their 0-16 to 0-8 victory over the Sigersons.
Girvan commented: “We were in the Intermediate league for five or six years running earlier in my career and sometimes it was only a couple of points that separated the teams at the bottom and at the top.
“If you get off to a bad start you’re going to get it tight for the rest of the year, but if you start well you’re going to be in a positive frame of mind.”
This is the Rock’s second year in their latest stint in the Intermediate ranks, and Girvan admits that their reputation as a ‘yo yo team’ gnaws at him a little bit.
He explains that it hasn’t always been easy to maintain their momentum after playing and excelling in Ulster and All-Ireland Junior championships.
“The yo yo tag is something we don’t really like. When you’re a small club and go in a run in Ulster, it’s hard to keep things going as men decide they want time away or get injured. When it comes to the new season, you’re almost playing catch up. Maybe the break over the last year as helped us in some ways.”
See today’s Ulster Herald and Dungannon Herald for the rest of our interview with Aidan Girvan