PETTIGO manager Stephen McElrone is happy with the strides forward his side have made this year and he wants his club to maintain them in the Junior Championship.

The team have put in the hard work and were rewarded in Division 3 with three wins and three draws and ended up finishing seventh out of 12 sides.

“Getting off the bottom and win a few games was the objective for the league and it’s the same for the championship.

“The boys wanted to win some matches in Division 3 and after a bad start against Naomh Brid, things started to pick up.

“We had a few draws as well in matches that could have went either way.

“We were five unbeaten and then we went down to Naomh Colmcille on a Sunday day when the boys looked like they had no interest and we lost.

“It just shows when you’re not at yourself, you’ll be beat.

“There has been progress. We had a proper pre-season and proper training now and that’s why there’s improvement.

“We were pushing for bringing it back to four divisions over the winter and there were a right few consultations about it but it didn’t go through.

“There’s no point crying about it. The boys had to step up and get competitive.”

Pettigo’s morale is in a good place, and they won’t have any inferiority complex when taking on Robert
Emmets, Naomh Brid, Lifford or Urris.

“We want to keep the wee bit of momentum going and win a championship game or two.

“Robert Emmets is the first match and then Naomh Brid in a derby and they are going to be very strong in the second match.

“I just hope the boys go out and perform well, and win as many games as we can.”

Numbers are light at the border club but Pettigo were very proud when Ronan Maher played for the county minors a year out of his age group in 2023.

Unfortunately he has been struck down by two cruciate injuries since.

“Ronan popped his cruciate on the Friday just before the first league match.

“Numbers are light and Ronan and Daithi Moss were the two players we got through this year. They played underage with Naomh Brid, and that amalgamation is a help to us.

“Unfortunately Ronan won’t kick a ball this season but I’m sure he will be back because he would be diligent with his rehab.”