Stewartstown’s Quinn ‘devastated’ at the prospect of relegation

INTERMEDIATE CHAMPIONSHIP FIRST ROUND

STEWARTSTOWN captain Connor Quinn admits that the prospect of losing their hard earned Intermediate status is ‘devastating’ for the club.

The Harps finished bottom of the Division Two table after a disappointing league campaign, the loss to fellow strugglers Killeeshil in their penultimate outing copperfastening their likely return to the Junior ranks next season.

Of course Stewartstown still have one trump card they can play to rescue their plight and that would be a title success in the Intermediate Championship.

Based on league standings it’s probably an unrealistic scenario at this juncture, but that won’t stop them giving it their all in the Championship opener against Owen Roes at Healy Park this Friday night.

It wasn’t that long ago (January 2023) that the Harps took to the field to tackle David Clifford’s Fossa at Croke Park in the All-Ireland Junior Championship Final, and Connor Quinn accepts that those halcyon months seem light years away from their current predicament.

“ That seems a distant memory already after this year. This has been a bad campaign for us. You can’t get away from that. It never got going. As the old saying goes when it rains it pours and that applies for us this year anyway. We have had men away and injuries which hasn’t helped.

“ We couldn’t really get a handle on it, things seemed to go from bad to worse and to get relegated with a game to go was devastating. All we can do now is look forard to this Championship and try and put a bit of pride back into the club and ourselves as players. We will give it a rattle though we know the odds are against us.”

Quinn admits that Stewartstown will require a quick turnaround in form if they are to shock Owen Roes and their talismanic captain Cathal McShane, whom he rates highly.

“ There is no doubt he is a great footballer and with him involved it makes them a better team. We know them well at this stage and it’s just about us focusing fully on that game at Healy Park.

“ There are four very strong teams at the top of Divsion Two but Owen Roes weren’t far behind them. That shows their strength.”

While over the years Stewartstown have reserved some of their best performances for the Championship, Connor cautions that they have yet to replicate their form in the Junior knockout series higher up the food chain.

“ I know we have a bit of pedigree in the Championship at Junior but we haven’t won a game in the Intermediate Championship for seven or eight years.

“ But there is no doubt those Junior runs did a lot to bond the team and club but you also have to bring that consistency to Intermediate level. That is where we want to be competing at and we will have to lift our level again for Owen Roes next Friday night.”