Roes skipper Devine prepared for Moortown

OWEN Roes appear to be the embodiment of the competitive nature of division two.

It’s a section in which anyone can beat anyone else, and they invariably do, as the Roes have proved by beating Clogher and Aghyaran either side of a somewhat self-inflicted defeat to Rock.

But it’s that latest victory, a four-point triumph over the St Davogs that has pleased skipper Tony Devine as it showed his team had learned a lesson from their reverse to Rock and it has given him confidence for the rest of the season.

“It was good to get another win under our belts after the week before,” he said.

“We’re hoping that we can push on now because that win was important after the way we lost to Rock. We were four points up with five minutes to go and then threw it away.

“On Friday night it was going similarly, we were leading the whole night and then they drew level with five or 10 minutes to go and you’re thinking ‘not again’.

“But we kicked on again and it went all right for us, getting the scores we needed.

“Composure wise, we didn’t let it get to us and we settled the heads.

“We didn’t panic whereas last year or previous years we might have panicked and kicked some stupid wides, but we bided our time and got the scores we needed.”

This evening, the Leckpatrick men will tackle Moortown at home and with the pair separated by just two points in the table, Devine is expecting another tough battle.

But it’s one he hopes his side can triumph in because the last thing he wants this season is to be drawn into a relegation battle.

“There’s not going to be many games you’re going to run away with, they are all going to be one, two, three point games,” he observed.

“Looking at our first three games, there has been no difference between Clogher, Rock or Aghyaran by the intensity of the games.

“It’s just about if you came out on the right side of them or not.”

FULL STORY IN THIS WEEK’S CHRONICLE