WHEN Warrenpoint face Ballyholland in tomorrow’s do-or-die championship clash, boss John Boyle will see a familiar face in the opposition dugout.
Harps manager Shane Mulholland held the reins in Warrenpoint for two seasons and stepped down in 2022.
Mulholland guided the ‘Point to the championship final that year, but they lost out to Kilcoo by a single point after extra-time, with Boyle lining out at full-back.
Former Down half-forward Mulholland took charge of his home club Ballyholland at the start of the season and will have to knock out his old team to keep his side in the competition.
“Shane probably knows more about some of our guys than we know about them,” said Boyle.
“He managed them a lot longer than I have, and you probably get to know people a bit better than when you’re actually playing with them.
“He’ll not need to do a whole pile of homework in terms of gathering information, he’ll know the ins and outs of our boys. I’m sure he’ll have a gameplan drawn up fairly quickly about how to try and stop some of our threats and try to get the best out of his boys.
“I had a really good relationship with Shane,” Boyle continued.
“I couldn’t speak highly enough of him. He’s very much into the tactical side of it so I’ve no doubt he’ll be drawing up plans to try and stop our main threat.
“He’s a top manager and, more importantly, a top person, so I know he’ll have his homework done on us. It’s up to us to come up with new and inventive ways to try and get past whatever they throw in our way.”
This is the last-chance saloon for both teams, who have already tasted a defeat in the championship. Ballyholland beat Downpatrick in their first outing, but lost to Bryansford by the minimum of margins last Sunday, while Warrenpoint lost to Clonduff in round one, but bounced back against Longstone.
“You could tell there was a totally different feel even last week and it stood our boys in good stead,” added Boyle on the element of knock-out football.
“I thought they came with a good focus and attitude last week, so I’m just hoping it’s more of the same on Friday. think everyone wants to see knock-out football when everyone really puts themselves on the line so we’re really looking forward to it and there’s no better occasion than under the lights in Newry.
“We were going into the Clonduff game hopeful and confident, we thought we were in a good place and, to be fair to Clonduff, they really brought a different intensity to what we could match on the day.
“Hats off to them, they turned us over and we were really, really disappointed in terms of how we managed the game. But going into the Longstone game, I did feel a bit of pressure on it and it was just about how could our boys bounce back.
“You’re never going to get a perfect performance, but I thought, right from the start, it was near enough perfect. That’s what ultimately won the game for us, was how we conducted ourselves and how we went about our attitude towards the game. We made a really good start and that probably is what carried us over the line.”