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ULSTER JUNIOR HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP FIRST ROUND
OMAGH hurlers recently claimed their third Tyrone Junior Championship title on the trot, but something that has so far proven beyond them in their winning streak is a victory in the provincial arena.
So the prospect of a first ever victory in Ulster is a prime motivating factor ahead of Saturday’s first-round tie away to Monaghan representatives Truagh Gaels, according to their manager Conor Lenaghan.
Lenaghan, a native of the Sarsfields club in Belfast, manages the side alongside his assistant Declan McGarry, and makes no bones about their ambitions, though it won’t be easy against a team that recently competed in the Monaghan Senior Hurling Championship final.
“We’ve got the chance now to make history – we’ve never won a game in Ulster, so that’s what we’re trying to achieve. It’s a step-by-step process and we want to win our first provincial game, and if we do, it’ll be another wee milestone for the club.
“It’ll be a tough challenge – Truagh Gaels were the beaten finalists in the Monaghan senior final, and then they played off against the winners of the Junior Championship to see who’d go through and represent Monaghan at Junior level.”
This is Lenaghan’s first year at the St Enda’s helm and he’s had to contend with a significant turnover in personnel.
An influx of youthful talent has proven successful, while they can also call upon a few players from surrounding clubs that don’t offer hurling at this level.
“Myself and Declan were asked if we’d be interested in taking the senior team and it’s been great – I take the U8s as well, so you’re doing fundamentals with the kids and then have the chance to do exciting drills with the seniors.
“I believe from last year, that seven starters from last year’s final weren’t available – lads like Ruairi and Eoghan Winters, Aidan Gormley, Mark and Fionn Corry – they’re some serious hurlers.
“So we’ve been trying to bring through some of the Minors that have been coming through, and asking them to win a county championship, which is a challenging ask but they did really well in the final against Naomh Colum Cille.
“For us, we want to keep the hurling moving forward in the club – if you look at the juvenile teams in Omagh, there’s some really great teams coming through at U14 and U16 level. There’s been a lot of progress right from the very youngest age groups and we’re hopefully going to start seeing that come through.”