Sport

Creggan first up as Cargin begin defence of their Antrim title

Cargin have players of the stature of Tomás McCann in their side  
Cargin have players of the stature of Tomás McCann in their side   Cargin have players of the stature of Tomás McCann in their side  

CARGIN begin the defence of their Antrim Senior Football Championship title on Friday in Ahoghill, when they take on neighbours Creggan (8.30pm) at the quarter-final stage.

Erin’s Own have been building towards championship well and last week, after a run of very impressive high-scoring wins, sealed the  Division One title. John Brennan’s side oozes quality with the majority of his team household names. Michael, Tomás and Paul McCann, Michael Magill and Ciaran Close, Kevin O’Boyle, John Carron and James Laverty are names that roll off the tongue and their talents are equalled by a work ethic that suggests they will be hard to stop again this year.

They will go into Friday night’s game as strong favourites despite one or two injury concerns, but Brennan is not taking anything for granted, especially in what is a derby game: “Championship football is always 50/50,” insists the Cargin boss who is yet to lose an Antrim championship game with the Toome side having been at the helm in 1999, 2000 and again last year.

“It’s about who has the right mindset on the night and who makes less mistakes who will win. This is a local derby, so the players will know each other well and we are expecting a tough game. Creggan will be up for it and will hope to come out on top. My record doesn’t come into it. It’s all about the players. We won two titles back then [‘99 and ’00], so I hope these boys can do the same this year, but it will be tough. We have been putting up scores of late but I think we have a slightly stronger panel this year with a couple of injuries clearing up and then some young fellas coming through.”

Creggan have already tasted in action in this year’s championship when defeating Ahoghill 1-16 to 1-9 in a tougher-than-expected preliminary round tie. Kevin Madden’s side do possess some quality forwards with Conor and Kevin Small, Ruairi McCann and Mark Dougan all capable of raising flags, while they have also been boosted this year by the return from the USA of Dermott McCann.

With county players, Ricky and Martin Johnston in their ranks, Creggan do seem to have the tools capable of running their local rivals close. Indeed, they have enjoyed a fine league campaign, defeating Cargin in the opening game but suffered a heavy loss last month after the split.

While the margin should be much closer, Cargin are just that bit further down the road and should set up a semi-final with the winners of the first game at Ahoghill tonight between St John’s and Ballymena (throw-in 7pm). The west Belfast outfit have enjoyed great success at underage in recent times and last year reached the final of the Ulster U21 Club Championship, having annexed the Antrim title with relative ease, but in the provincial decider they ran into the juggernaut that is Watty Graham’s.

Much of that side has graduated into the senior ranks, but they will be without Kevin Cunningham and Ronan McCafferty, whose suspensions have carried over from last year’s competition. Manager Locky McCurdy will also be sweating on the fitness of Ryan McNulty and Simon McDonagh, but they still have plenty of quality with Matt Fitzpatrick, Paddy McBride and the Hannigans - Ross and Jack - to the fore.

St John’s will go in as favourites, but McCurdy is taking nothing for granted: “We will certainly be going in as favourites but championship football is championship football,” he said.

“We won’t be complacent. Ballymena have nothing to lose and anything can happen on the day. Sean McVeigh is a great player but they have good players all over the pitch. It isn’t just one guy we have to watch.”

Indeed, McVeigh is the talisman for Ballymena, but they still have plenty of other players capable of making inroads including Paddy McAleer and Emmett Killough. All Saints' have reached Friday evening’s quarter-final having defeated St Teresa’s in the preliminary round, so are up to the speed of championship football already.

However, their season hasn’t been exactly rosy as they struggled in Division One and are already consigned to Division Two for next year. While they will give it a real go tonight, it is difficult to see anything other than a St John’s win.