DAN McCARTAN concedes that Burren are “up against it” in Friday night’s Down SFC semi-final when they meet reigning champions Kilcoo in the latest instalment of the enduring rivalry between the Mourne county’s most successful clubs.
The ‘Magpies’ overtook Burren’s record of 13 Frank O’Hare Cups last season when they won their fourth senior championship title on-the-trot, a sequence that includes victories over the St Mary’s club in the 2013 and ’14 finals.
“Kilcoo are hot favourites because we haven’t beaten them in a competitive game, a knock-out game, in five years,” said McCartan.
“We’ve beaten them in the league and this and that but when it comes down to the crunch Kilcoo seem to have the Indian sign over us for the last few years. We’re hoping that will change and we’ll try our best to do that but we’re up against it.
“We have no choice but to be underdogs - it’s a fact. We haven’t beaten them so we have no choice, you can say whatever you like, but the reality is that Kilcoo are winning games and we’re not, so they’re the favourites.”
Burren did beat Kilcoo earlier in this competition but McCartan says that victory will count for nothing on Friday night: “Lets be honest, they had half a team out,” he said.
“There was no Johnstons, the two Brannigans weren’t playing… It was half a team and you can’t take merit out of winning it. That’s no disrespect to the players they had on the field but it wasn’t their best 15 and it was very tight until they lost a man. So what can you take from that really?”
The Johnston brothers, Jerome and Ryan, have been out of action since undergoing surgery on dislocated shoulders in March. McCartan is certain they’ll be back for the Pairc Esler showdown.
“If they’re going to come back Friday is the night to come back isn’t it?” he said.
“There’s no point in waiting for another month. Of course they’ll be back. But that’s what you play football for - to beat the best. The two Johnstons are probably the two best players in Kilcoo – they’ll hopefully be playing and it’ll be a tough test for our defence.”
Both sides came through competitive quarter-finals with a bit to spare. Burren saw off a determined challenge from Mayobridge to win 3-15 to 1-12 while Kilcoo beat Warrenpoint’s Cumann Pheadair Naofa 2-13 to 0-10.
Mayobridge veteran Benny Coulter, who announced his retirement from club football after the loss, was very impressed with the gameplan devised by Burren manager Sean Ward.
“If we don’t know each other at this stage we’re never going to know each other,” said McCartan.
“Kilcoo have been a force for the last couple of years in Ulster - they’re one of the most consistent teams in Ulster - so anybody would know their team inside out. Sean has left no stone unturned but unfortunately he can’t take the field on Friday night - the players have to perform.”
A crowd of up to 5,000 is expected at Newry’s Pairc Esler for the game and McCartan, an All-Ireland finalist with Down in 2010, says there is “massive interest” in the winner-takes-all showdown.
“Anybody who knows Burren knows that there’s probably only one thing in Burren - the football club,” he said.
“It’s a big part of the parish, central to life in the parish and everyone from primary school up has a massive interest.”
Meanwhile, Mayobridge have parted company with manager Frank Dawson. The former Antrim boss, and current Down U21 manager, has been succeeded by a new management team of Benny McArdle, Brendan Grant and Nigel O’Hare.
