Sean MacCumhaills manager Bernard McGeehan says that his side are under no illusions at the challenge this weekend as they prepare to take on St Michael’s in first of this weekend Championship quarter-finals.
MacCumhaills will travel to O’Donnell Park to play an inform St Michael’s outfit, who have gone 11 unbeaten in all competitions, but McGeehan admitted his side are quietly looking forward to the ‘difficult’ occasion.
“We’re very much looking forward (to the match),” McGeehan said. “But we’re under no illusions whatsoever, the challenge that is facing us will be very tough.
“St Michaels are definitely the most inform team in the county.
“They have been knocking around (the) Championship year after year, it is going to be a really difficult challenge and we’ll be up against it, but we’re looking forward to it deep down.”
McGeehan’s men will look to draw from their own success in Division 2 last season, securing promotion, and although they missed out on winning the division on the last day, McGeehan believes they can take confidence from their ‘very good year’.
“Getting promotion was a very big thing for us all year, we never pulled any punches on that, we wanted promotion.
“We’ve been in Division Two for fourteen years and my belief was that we needed to get into Division One if we wanted to progress to the next level, and that is why we put so much effort into getting promotion this year and we were a bit disappointed on the last day.
“But our main objective was achieved and that was to get out of the league,” he said. “We went straight into the Championship then, and from the outside world it seemed that our heads would be down after we lost that last game, but we didn’t see it that way at all. Overall, we have had a very good year.
“We were focusing on the Championship from about three weeks before the end (of the league campaign), once promotion was assured, so we were going into the Championship in good form, and full of confidence with the (Championship) group in front of us.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy but it was a group we felt we could progress in, obviously the big game for us was the first game against Milford and we got a good win there.
“We had to follow that with a win at Killybegs, which we managed, so it was two very good performances.”
The two sides met in 2015
Speaking briefly on Sean MacCumhaills previous fixture against Kilcar, McGeehan believes his side showed a good account of themselves and insists they are consistently learning.
“We played Kilcar last week and obviously they are the benchmarkers in the county the last year or two, we also knew that was going to be challenging and I believe we competed in many aspects of the game.
“There was a couple of areas that showed our weaknesses, but this is about learning and progressing and that game has certainly helped us do that.”
MacCumhaills will field a team in a Championship quarter-final for the first time since 2015 when they were outshone by Glenswilly, and McGeehan is urging several of his under-21 players, who will feature tomorrow, to show no fear against a prominent St Michael’s team.
“We all know experience is an important aspect in sport but it is one of those things that is not going to be shown overnight, it is to be earned over time.
“We do have a lot of experience in the team now, but we have a lot of young players as well, we have seven or eight under-21’s that will be involved tomorrow.
“The good thing about youth is that there is no fear or baggage with them and that is the flip side to experience.
“Those young boys can go out and express themselves and go out with no fear, so whilst experience is important and we do have that in the key areas, I think having the young players without the fear can certainly be a good thing to have, but we are facing a very experienced team.
“St Michaels has been there and done that, they have been in several semi-finals in the last couple of years and a final not so long ago either.”
However, MacCumhaills won’t have to look too far for potent experience within the dressing room, with McGeehan and his assistant having reached several quarter-finals and a final in 2004 – a feat the manager hopes can help the team on Saturday.
“That is a fair point and that is what we’re trying to get across to the boys, the experience and having played in those types of games, people like Shane (McNulty), our assistant manager, in the team, who would have captained the team that got to the final in 2004, but, listen, we’re not talking about finals at the minute, we are just looking at one game at a time.
“Of course, we want the guys to visualise these things and believe that someday they can get to finals and that is what it’s all about and we will try and guide them along.”
McGeehan revealed MacCumhaills will be without the highly influential Aaron Kelly, who netted a hat-trick of goals against Killybegs earlier in the Championship, through injury but he should have the rest of squad at his disposal.
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