AIB All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship quarter-final: St. Kiernan’s (Britain) v Robert Emmet’s, Slaughtneil (Derry) (tomorrow, 1pm, Greenford)
IF Slaughtneil needed warning before they set foot in Greenford tomorrow afternoon as to how tricky this assignment can get, they only need to look back through the last decade.
Exclude Dr. Crokes’ two visits to the English capital, which resulted in 13- and 15-point victories in 2006 and 2012, and the average winning margin for the visiting Irish side is just over six points.
The Corofin side that so ruthlessly won the All-Ireland just over 18 months ago were kept to just 0-9 by Tír Chonaill Gaels, and led just 0-2 to 0-1 at the break, while Crossmaglen have had a couple of relatively close shaves in their visits of 2007 and 2010.
In his Irish News column earlier this week, Cross defender Aaron Kernan warned Slaughtneil not to expect an easy ride and Emmet’s assistant John Joe Kearney revealed that the former Armagh man had spoken to him after their Ulster final win over Kilcoo.
“I was talking to Aaron Kernan, he gave me a call the Tuesday morning after the Ulster final and he was marking my book to say ‘don’t be expect to be coming home winning by 10 points; be happy enough to come home with a win’,” said Kearney.
“He said it’s not that easy and completely alien to what you’ve been used to. That’s the way we’re going prepared for that, it’s a completely different setup.
“As far as I understand it’s just a field of ground with posts in it. It’s nearly like going back to the carnival games. The crowd standing in on top of ye, breathing down your neck.
“That’s basically what it’s going to be like I think. It’ll be the same for them as it is for us, so we’ll just have to deal with it.”
A substantial contingent is expected to travel over from the small south Derry community to see their team take on London’s new champions, St. Kiernan’s.
They dominated this year, winning four trophies at adult level, and backing it up with an under-16 all-county success that suggests they will be around for a few years to come.
Slaughtneil will have a particular eye on top-scoring forward Adrian Moyles, who is likely to be tracked by Karl McKaigue.
Michael Callery will be a threat from the wing provided he returns from injury in time, while Down native Mark Mulholland was man of the match in their county final win over Tír Chonaill Gaels.
“We know absolutely nothing about them, we’re going in completely blind,” said John Joe Kearney.
“You can’t set up how you might want to because you don’t know what you’re up against. You just have to play it by ear and see how it progresses.”
Video footage from the London championship wouldn’t be too readily available, and Slaughtneil are at a disadvantage in that respect.
St. Kiernan’s boss Ciaran Byrne could have seen coverage of all Slaughtneil’s Derry championship games online, and two of their Ulster club ties were broadcast in full by TG4.
Though the Mayo man took no chances on the second one, travelling across to Armagh to get a look at Mickey Moran’s side in person.
“I was at it. You have to see them yourself,” he said.
“No point waiting on someone else, it can get mislaid along the way. They have quality footballers, you don’t win Ulster titles without them.
“Up the middle is very strong. Full-back, centre-back, midfield. Chrissy McKaigue, Patsy Bradley, Paul Bradley – a lot of stuff goes through him – [Shane] McGuigan at 10. They are strong.”
Slaughtneil fly from Belfast international to Gatwick this evening and will bed down in the heart of London before travelling across the city tomorrow afternoon by the familiar mode of the yellow Chambers bus that will be waiting for them when they step off the plane.
The closest they will have in the camp to an experience of this will come from their manager, who took Leitrim to Ruislip when he was in charge there.
The weather seems set to hold up relatively well and that should mean that the pitch at Greenford will hold firm, which will suit the athleticism of the Oak Leaf side.
This has traditionally been a winning assignment for the visiting team, and Slaughtneil’s brand of energy-sapping football should see them pull comfortably clear to set up a date with St. Vincent’s or Rhode in February.
