Enda McGinley says his Errigal Ciaran squad has been galvanised by a tough league encounter last weekend, and is now more match-ready for next month’s All-Ireland semi-final clash with Dr Crokes of Kerry.
He fielded a team made up entirely of fringe players for the Tyrone Division One league semi-final, and ran Carrickmore to a single point, just falling short of forcing the tie to extra-time.
“Those boys needed their game-time to make sure that they’re keeping on going because if the All-Ireland semi-final happened to go to extra-time, you’re going seven, eight, ten players into your squad so it’s important they’ll get game-time too,” he said.
“We have a group of boys who have been incredible, we’ve been really, really happy with the level of our own training sessions and a lot of that is to do with why we’re in the position that we are.”
Not a single member of Errigal’s first choice selection played any part in the derby clash with Carrickmore, all granted a well-earned reast following the Ulster final victory over Kilcoo a week earlier, followed by a few days of celebrations.
“We didn’t want to play any boys that have played an awful lot this last while, just to protect them, and there were an awful lot of boys through the exertions during the week, shall we say, carrying flu and colds too.
“So they were struggling, even the ones who did put their hands up to play, but it was a match to respect, a match to have a go. We came up short, Carrickmore were better on the day.”
Avoidance of injuries was a key factor on McGinley’s thinking, but he won’t be advising his players to hold back during tough sessions on the training field between now and the trip to Portlaoise on January 5.
“Well there’s always training, you can pick up a knock at any stage during training so until you’re there come game-day, you’re always vulnerable to injuries at any given stage.
“But certainly this game was a bit more of a risk and when lads maybe haven’t been living the lives of athletes during the week, you’re that wee bit more susceptible to an injury.”
Sunday’s derby clash with Carrickmore offered the opportunity for Errigal to go for the league and championship double, and the manager insisted that was his aim.
“Look, the Tyrone league, you put in a huge amount of work into it during the year. Every match is hard-fought for, so it would be a pity to let it go and not have a bit of a go at it, at the very least.
“We played poorly enough in places but the boys put in a decent shift and I suppose that’s it done and dusted.”
A 0-10 to 1-6 loss clears the decks for a fully focused approach to the All-Ireland series.
“You’ve got a once in a lifetime or once in a generation chance for them as players, to try to compete with Dr Crokes and go for a place in the All-Ireland final so it’s imperative we make the very most of that chance and make the most of the next three weeks.
“It’s amazing how quickly it’ll go in, this time you’re sitting a fortnight out, you’re sitting right in the mouth of it again.
“We said after the match (Ulster final) we had a duty to try and celebrate it right, the boys certainly did that, but it is now about knuckling down, we’ve probably lost a wee bit of ground to Dr Crokes, they have been there, done that.
“I don’t know how much they celebrated but I imagine their eyes are very much focused on the prize already this week.”
