Tiarnan reflects on the Fianna’s testing season

INTERMEDIATE CHAMPIONSHIP FIRST ROUND

EVEN at the relatively young age of twenty-five Coalisland captain Tiarnan Quinn has already experienced the full gamut of emotions lining out in the dark blue Fianna jersey.

From coming on as a teenage sub in the 2018 Senior Championship Final win over Killyclogher (scoring two points as the club lifted the O’Neill Cup for the tenth time) to suffering the devestating pain of relegation out of the top flight for the first time in forty years last October, Quinn has seen their fortunes nose dive spectacularly in a short space of time.

Things have improved slightly operating down a level this year, as they ended up in fourth spot in Division Two, but Tiarnan admits that all their eggs are now firmly planted in the one Championship basket.

They tackle Eglish this Thursday at O’Neill Park in the tie of the round at Intermediate level and the captain appreciates it is a contest they simply have to win to rescue their season.

“ Towards the end of the league it started to come together a bit more. At the start of the league we were obviously missing our county men which doesn’t help things.

“ We have a big game now coming into the Championship playing Eglish but there is no better match to get up for than that.

“They beat us in the League by a point so we know what to expect from them. We are not guaranteed to come through the play offs in the league so everything is on the line in this match.

“ Eglish are a good side. They pulled away from us at the start and then we crawled back into it towards the end of the game. We seemed to do that a lot this season but we just left it too late that day.”

Coalisland had to contend during the early part of the league without their hat-trick of county big hitters, namely Paudie Hampsey, Niall Devlin and Michael McKernan. Quinn believes that any club side would find it hard to fill the void created by their absence.

“ They are key players in the back line too, not just at club level but they are three of the best defenders in the country.

“Any side would struggle to cope without men like that.

“ I know we were saying during the year that we can’t always use the excuse that we have top men missing, because it is the same with a lot of teams. But in our Division it definitely hits us harder than anyone else and when you factor in injuries too our numbers have been hit for a lot of the league.”

One of the Fianna’s most famous sons Damien O’Hagan is back managing the side this year, and Quinn states that nobody within the fold needs reminding about the club’s illustrious history.

“ It’s always been the thing in Coalisland. The league is competitive alright but it’s only a build-up for the Championship. That’s what the club is about and that is a point made by our management too.

“ I know over this past couple of years we have been unlucky but we have some decent league performances behind us going into it now. We are well set up for it and we are ready for it.”