BY MATTHEW WILSON
SEAN MacCumhaills manager Jamesie Donnelly is hoping that his side can bring the game to Keady when they face-off in the last four of the Ulster Minor Shield this Sunday.
Sean MacCumhaills haven’t been in competitive action since the end of July when they clinched their third successive minor crown courtesy of a convincing win over Aodh Ruadh.
It’s been a lengthy gap between the two tournaments but the club’s Under 16 and Under 21 sides both enjoyed good campaigns in their respective competitions which has kept their players active in recent months according to minor manager Donnelly.
“They’re good. We’re blessed that we had a lot of lads that were involved in the Under 16 Championship winning team and a lot of lads that were involved in the Under 21 team that got to an ‘A’ Final.
“They were getting a lot of hurling in the middle of that and we were happy with that. Last year, they had zero or little hurling for a couple of months but this year it was lucky the way it fell that they had lots of games.”
There’s been a huge amount of success within the underage ranks at the Twin Towns club in recent years, winning the Under 14, Under 16 and Minor titles this year.
It bodes well for the future of hurling in the club but the MacCumhaills minor boss expressed that it doesn’t guarantee success at senior level but feels that they’re heading the right way.
“Please god yeah. It’s massive winning underage titles, I think we did back-to-back in all of the age groups this year but that counts for nothing at senior level.
“We saw that this year in the county semi-final where we were overpowered by a much more physical St Eunan’s team.
“It’s going to take time, we’re very hopeful that we can build our senior team back up again but it will take time. Winning underage titles doesn’t always guarantee you success either, it takes a lot of work after that but we’d be confident that we’re going in the right direction.”
The Sean MacCumhaills minor group have been back training in recent weeks, preparing for this weekend’s meeting with Keady.
The Armagh outfit recently clinched their county crown and having examined their opposition, the MacCumhaills boss is aware of the ability that they possess.
However, with a full bill of health the Twin Towns club will enter the contest with confidence and Donnelly hopes that they can produce their best performance.
“Preparations have gone well. Keady have just finished their Championship a couple of weeks ago. We had a few lads up watching that game and they’re a really good, well-drilled side.
“We’ll have our work cut out but at the same time, we’ll be focusing heavily on our own game plan and trying to implement that. We feel that if we can turn up then we’re a match for any team and we’re hoping that’s the case come Sunday.”
The MacCumhaill Park residents reached the competition’s showpiece last term, losing out to Eoghan Ruadh Dungannon on that occasion.
They’ll be aiming to reach the final once again on Sunday but Donnelly expressed that the Orchard County men will provide a massive test.
“Last year, we got to the final and we probably got there without our marquee player in Daniel (Donnelly). He was a huge loss to the whole thing and we’re just hoping that we can put our best foot forward on Sunday to give ourselves a crack at another final.
“Listen, Keady will be a massive test so we’ll be looking no further than that.”