BY MATTHEW WILSON
ROBERT Emmets boss John Duffy is hoping that his side can reach the knockout stages of this term’s Junior Football Championship.
John Duffy is in his second season at the helm of Robert Emmets and they picked up six points in this year’s Division 3 campaign, recording three good wins.
It’s a total that resembles the amount they registered 12 months ago but Duffy feels that the team has progressed further this season.
“We had three wins this year, we had three wins last year but from our perspective I think we were more competitive this year.
“Last year, we took some heavy defeats so I think we’re definitely making progress. We had some good wins and left some games behind us.
“We’ve parked that now and we’re looking forward to the next couple of weeks to see how we get on in the championship.
The Castlefin outfit lost the services of some players at the start of the year but Duffy said that they have also welcomed some back into the fold that they were without last term.
Preparations have gathered pace since the conclusion of the league campaign, with the Ballyshannon native explaining that a number of challenge games have also formed part of their build-up to the championship. In their opening encounter they will take on Naomh Colmcille, a side they lost out earlier this year, and they’ll be hoping to right the wrongs this weekend.
Other sides in their group include Naomh Ultan, Na Rossa, Moville and Pettigo which makes up a competitive mix out outfits.
Speaking to the Donegal News, the Robert Emmets manager is expecting a tough couple of contests but is hopeful his side can do enough to reach the knockout stages.
“Looking at it, we only won one league game against the four of those teams. At the same time, we were competitive in them all.
“There’s going to be no easy games, we’re just going to take it one game at a time. Any one of those teams could reasonably top the group so I think everyone would feel that they’ve the chance of getting the automatic place into the semi-final.
“We’d be happy to finish second or third and get to the quarter-finals because I think we finished the furthest down Division 3 out of the teams in our group.
“I think if we bring our A game then we can be competitive with anybody and if you get the rub of the green then who knows, maybe we will get through to the quarter-finals.”