Milford manager James McGinley has set two targets for his team as they return to Intermediate football in 2024.
The Moyle View Park club played at senior grade for six seasons but lost that status last year.
There is a stronger look to the team this time around with Eoin O’Donnell, Conor McHugh, and Conor Coll home from America, while Dylan Dorrian is fit after missing the entire championship last season.
The team are looking forward to getting stuck into the action over the coming weeks.
“I suppose we were more surviving maybe than competing over the last couple of seasons,” said McGinley.
“Last year we were probably as competitive as we had been in a good few years but we got relegated. We just probably didn’t have the quality we previously had.
“This year we have a real settled squad and the boys are training hard.
“Our two targets are to win both our home games and get to a quarter-final.
“You can do nothing until you get to a quarter-final, and we will reassess and revaluate if we manage to make it that far.”
McGinley has a decent panel although he is sweating over the fitness of some important players.
“We have a few niggles. Rory (O’Donnell) has been carrying a bit of an injury all year, and Cathal McGettigan has a wee niggle.
“Darragh Black is only back after playing very little league football from the middle of May. He’s showing well.
“Other than that we have pretty much the full pack and ‘Chippie’ (Christopher Barrett) is back in full training which is a good boost for us all.”
Milford begin against Gaeil Fhánada today and they beat their neighbours by eight points when they met in the league in June.
However, McGinley’s men lost against their rivals in Portsalon so there won’t be any complacency.
“It’s a tasty one.
“It will be a different game in the championship.
“Anybody who thinks that league game will be anything like the championship game will be badly mistaken.
“We’re under no illusions about what we are going into down there.
“It will take a serious effort from our boys to come out of there with two points, or even a point.
“We will focus on it and go down and give it our best lash.”
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