GWEEDORE won't be intimidated by Crossmaglen's reputation when they meet them tomorrow says Eamonn McGee.
The vastly experienced All-Ireland-winning defender says history will count for nothing when the Donegal champions come up against the Armagh kingpins in the Healy Park Ulster semi-final headliner.
“We are confident as group, we have been confident all year so why would it change just because we’ve come up against Crossmaglen?” asked McGee.
“We have to remember that this isn’t the great Crossmaglen team. Like ourselves, these lads are forging their own path and trying to emulate the path that was laid before them.
“We have to remember that. We’ve been confident all year so it shouldn’t change now.”
McGee, his brother Neil, Kevin Cassidy and Chris McFadden are survivors from the last meeting of the sides in Ballybofey a dozen years ago. He says the experienced players are “piggy-backing” on the success of a talented group of young players in Gweedore.
“People are making an awful lot of the fact that we are still knocking about but the reality is that we were knocking about for the last 12 years and we didn’t get to this stage,” he said.
“We are piggy-backing on the great U21 team that is coming through. They won the Ulster U21 title comfortably and we are just adding to it, we’re supplementing that.
“That’s where the whole driving force of the team is now but we do have experience, we have been in situations in Ulster finals and All-Ireland finals and we can help out. We’ve been involved in set-ups and we can add to the set-up but the main thing about this team is that it’s their team, we just have small parts to play.”
Crossmaglen have a built-in self-confidence when it comes to championship football. The south Armagh outfit won by five points back in 2006 and manager Donal Murtagh would gladly accept the offer of the same result tomorrow.
“We’re confident of playing any team in championship football,” said Murtagh, now in his second spell as manager of the Rangers.
“That’s what our team is all about. It’s all about trying to produce it on the day and we’d be confident we have the players to cause Gweedore significant problems.
“Championship football is down to the bounce of the ball or the referee’s whistle at times and some decisions go for you and some go against you… That’s championship football.”
Like his Gweedore counterpart Mervyn O’Donnell, Murtagh has experienced campaigners to call upon and he predicts that cool heads will be required tomorrow.
“There’s many a time that the older players show a cool head, especially in the latter stages of matches,” he said.
“The likes of Aaron Kernan and Tony have been through the mill. Johnny Hanratty has too for years and hopefully they’ll be able to steady the ship on Sunday, especially in the last quarter of the match when cool heads, experienced heads, are needed.
“Hopefully our experience will stand to us.”
