BY MATTHEW WILSON
NAOMH Pádraig Uisce Chaoin manager Peter Murphy is hoping his side can enjoy a lengthy run in this season’s Intermediate Football Championship.
Naomh Pádraig Uisce Chaoin have had a solid season so far, finishing third in Division 2 of the All-County League.
This saw them participate in a play-off for a place in the top tier but they lost out to St Michael’s to see them remain in Division 2 for another term. Derry native Peter Murphy is in the hotseat at the club this term, taking over from Daniel McCauley, and he’s enjoyed his start to life there.
“I’m really enjoying it. I think the set-up in Donegal is second to none, with all the professionalism regarding journalism, referees coming with umpires and the small things that contribute to a county going the right way.
“It’s a first class club, you can see the work that’s going on behind the scenes. There’s a good crop of young players there, the underage is solid over the next few years and now that we’ve got a taste of a promotion play-off, there’s aspirations to kick on now over the next couple of years.”
The Muff club’s attention will have turned towards the upcoming Intermediate Football Championship in the weeks since this play-off defeat to St Michael’s.
They will contest some big Inishowen derbies in the coming weeks, with them being drawn to face Malin, Carndonagh and Buncrana.
However, they will kick-off their campaign with a trip to Bundoran to face Realt na Mara this weekend and the Derry man is anticipating a tough test at Gaeilc Park.
“Things have been going very well. We’ve had a couple of good challenge games over the last couple of weeks against seasoned senior championship teams.
“We’re looking forward to getting down to Bundoran now this weekend which won’t be easy. Any game in the Intermediate Championship seems fairly competitive so we’re looking forward to this weekend now.”
Having secured the Junior Football Championship title in 2024, the Inishowen outfit carried that momentum into their first season at intermediate level, reaching the quarter-finals of the competition last term.
Speaking to the Donegal News, Murphy expressed that his side will be hoping for another run to the knockout stages this season.
“We’d like to be looking at a long run in the championship. Looking back at last year, they took Malin to extra-time in the quarter-finals and the margins were small, obviously Malin went on to the final.
“We’d be looking to still be there at the business end but a lot of things can change across the first four games. You’re just hoping that you can get your best possible team when it matters most but there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge before we get that far.”
Bainisteoir: Peter Murphy
Captain: Darragh McIntyre
Last Year: IFC Quarter-finalists
Star Man: Caolan McColgan
One to Watch: Jamie McCauley