KILDRUM Tigers have a home draw in the semi-final of the Ulster Junior Cup today and forward Jonny Robb is hopeful they can make the most of it when Cockhill Celtic visit.
The Station Road men haven’t lost at home this season, which is something that will give Shane McGinty’s side confidence going into the match against the Inishowen side.
“We’ve drawn at home twice this season with Letterkenny Rovers and Kilmacrennan but won every other game so we are going in confident.
“We know what we’re coming up against, Cockhill aren’t a Junior side, they were Intermediate Cup finalists the year before last, they’re a group of top quality footballers but what we have in Kildrum is a real togetherness and we don’t concede many goals.
“We fancy our chances, we’ll be going in as underdogs but we always perform well against the bigger teams. It’s us and probably the three best teams in the county left but we played Letterkenny twice and I felt we edged both but couldn’t find a winner.
“We’re a battling team that step up on the bigger days.
“The fight and determination is always there, when I wasn’t at them you always knew they were horrible to play against because of how physical and strong they are and always defensively solid.
“We’re a hard team to beat and that’s why Kildrum are always there or thereabouts at the end of the season and it’s the same this year and we really feel we deserve a bit of silverware to go with the season we’ve had.”
Kildrum sit third in the Premier Division and as Robb alluded to, their defence has been something that has served them well as they sit behind only Letterkenny Rovers and Bonagee.
They have conceded six in their last four games as the league now looks out of reach, ten points off the Leckview men with just four games to play.
But after letting in just four goals in their opening ten games, it’s a positive they are looking to bring in to Sunday’s game.
“It was a kick in the teeth drawing with Letterkenny twice, it was always going to be an uphill battle to catch them because they don’t drop points against the weaker teams.
“We played St Catherine’s two weeks ago and drew 0-0 but you wouldn’t have thought it was a game that the two teams had nothing to play for, we’ve kept up a certain tempo and we’re ready to go.
“But we have been ticking along alright and this Ulster Cup has kept it going, we’re conceding more than we’d like recently but come this weekend we’ll want to be tight at the back.
“We had 11 clean sheets in 13 games there up to a stage at the start of the season and then as the season faded out we’ve conceded more, three against Kilmac and two at the weekend against Gweedore Celtic.
“We’re fighting on all fronts, outside of the top two, who are really still full of Intermediate players, we’d consider ourselves the next best or at least very close to that. We’ve given it a good go this year but over one game we definitely think we can beat any of these teams.”
Much like Sunday’s opponents, Robb has had plenty of experience at Intermediate level, playing for a number of years with Maiden City in Derry before joining Strabane Athletic.
He moved back to Donegal football last year and had a brief spell with Letterkenny Rovers. A Lifford native, Robb is living in Raphoe so it’s a short journey over to Station Road and he was also involved with the Oscar Traynor side, scoring twice as they were defeated in the quarter-final by Mayo.
“I had to stop football at Christmas last season so I just signed with Letterkenny to train with them for the second half of the season.
“I was with Strabane a few years but I spent five years with Maiden City and I loved it, we won the league a few times. Intermediate and Saturday football is just different, the level was very good but the Donegal League is so tough and I’m liking both.
“Last time I played in Donegal before now was with Lifford Celtic in the Premier Division.
“I’ve had a good run of games and on a personal level it has been a good season, but I probably haven’t scored as many as I would have liked with Kildrum so far.”
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