Sarsfields skipper Eoin believes team can learn from tough season

HEEDING the experiences from a fraught first year at Intermediate level can only stand to Drumragh in the long run, captain Eoin Montgomery believes.

Baring pulling off a ‘Killyman’ as its known (bottom side winning the Championship) the Sarsfields face the prospect of an immediate drop back down to the Junior grade unless they defy the odds and clinch the Paddy Cullen Cup.

One victory from fifteen league outings tells its own sorry tale from Drumragh’s perspective but Eoin Montgomery feels that such a statistic is somewhat unfair with the team having given as good as they got in several matches this term.

“The boys have picked up a lot throughout the year and we have definitely grown as players and matured.

“The mood is upbeat even though we had a tough year. We have learned from a lot of our performances and while the results haven’t gone to plan we hope to take the experience forward.

“Don’t get me wrong we aren’t happy where we ended up in the table but we have definitely grown as players and no matter what that should stand to us.”

Relegation could be confirmed for the Clanabogan crew if they come out on the losing end of their Championship assignment against Beragh in Carrickmore on Sunday afternoon, but their 22 year old skipper insists that there is still a spring in their step.

“We are looking forward to it. There is a big buzz about the camp. We picked up momentum in terms of performances over the last couple of games. We are determined to give the Championship a rattle.

“Playing football week on week in the Championship is class as we found last year. It’s something we tend to thrive off so we are definitely looking to carry that into this year’s Championship as well.”

Drumragh had to dust themselves down after their gut-wrenching loss to Fintona in last year’s Junior Championship Final to embark on a terrific run through the playoffs which eventually sealed their promotion.

Montgomery admits that the extended campaign at the backend of 2023 may have take its toll this season.

“It has been a frustrating year, a few results could have went either way. Probably going on so late into the season last year, with reaching the Championship final and then the playoffs probably did play a part.

“ Boys came back late because of other commitments but that is just the way things are. We were also missing a few during the year which didn’t help things but we still gave it our best,” added the talented young midfielder.

Drumragh lost out to Beragh in the league meeting, but Eoin felt the fates conspired against them somewhat that evening

“There was a couple of minutes of madness where things didn’t go our way, there was a red card and then Shane Devine got injured. We conceded 1-1 in that short period too. We probably didn’t do ourselves justice with that performance but we know Beragh are a good side and we are looking forward to giving it a rattle.”