CROSSMAGLEN RANGERS will take any sort of win in their All-Ireland Senior Club Championship semi-final clash with Castlebar Mitchel's this Saturday.
That’s according to Aaron Kernan who believes both sides’ performances in their respective provincial finals before Christmas will count for nothing. While Cross came through an extra-time epic to see off Monaghan’s Scotstown to take another Ulster title, Mayo champions Castlebar got past last year’s All-Ireland champions Corofin in the Connacht decider and Kernan feels that whoever gets back into the groove quicker in Breffni Park at the weekend will come out on top.
“There’s no form for either team going into it. You can’t say we were good in Ulster because it’s absolutely irrelevant because it was that long ago,” Kernan said.
“It will be a matter of who can do the simple things on the day and get back to where you were before Christmas, which isn’t always the easiest. To be honest, we would just take any win. Ideally, you want to go out and play good football, express yourself and showcase everything that you’ve worked on. The reality is that’s probably not going to happen. We’d be hoping that the bit of experience and know-how we have of closing out these games will play a part.”
In a break from tradition, Crossmaglen only had 10 days off after the Ulster final before getting back into training and with a clean bill of health for Saturday, Kernan is aiming for a fast start: “We didn’t start well against St Brigid’s three years ago, Dr Crokes the year before or Kilmacud the year before that, so that’s one area we still need to improve on. There’s only so many times you can keep chasing down leads,” he admitted.
“Hopefully we can start well this time and form some sort of momentum and pattern of play that we know best.”
