MOY’S senior status hangs in the balance as they prepare to fight mighty battles on two fronts.
A Tyrone SFC opener against Errigal Ciaran is the immediate point of focus, but hanging over the club like a dark cloud is a Division One League relegation play-off clash with Clonoe.
The Tir na nOgs will prioritise survival over the prospect of a championship run, but they’ll give themselves a fighting chance of shocking one of the O’Neill Cup favourites next week.
“Errigal are one of the best teams in Tyrone, they have quality players. But I think that on our day, we can beat any team,” said John Devlin, one half of an Antrim management team led by Kevin Murray of Lamh Dhearg.
“But we do need to be at our very best on the day. We need to be well prepared, we need to have our best players on the pitch, and we need everybody pulling in the right direction, to make sure that we give a good account of ourselves.
“Championship football can go any way. If you get a bit of momentum, and get a bit of a run and you never know where you’ll end up.
“It’s about the process of preparing for that 60, 65 minutes and you never know where you will be whenever the referee blows his final whistle.”
A difficult league campaign ended with a third from bottom finish for Moy, who lost to Derrylaughan in the final round to find themselves facing a battle for survival.
“We’ll take time to get our heads re-set and then focus on a massive Championship game in Galbally,” said Eire Og clubman Devlin.
It’s unclear when the relegation play-off will take place, with championship now set to dominate the Tyrone fixtures schedule over the next few weeks, but Moy have a clear picture of what lies ahead.
“Tyrone is a tough, tough league. If you’re not on your game, you’re going to find it very tough. There’s no easy games in Tyrone, and it has been a learning curve for Kevin and myself this year in Tyrone,” Devlin added.
“Every team has the capabilities to beat anybody, and unfortunately we just came out on the wrong side of a few results that we were in the hunt for going into the last 10 or 15 minutes.
“It’s about learning from that, and hopefully we’ll build on the experience that we have, learn from the games that we have seen out and from the games that we should have seen out.
The absence of the injured Colm Cavanagh for a handful of vital games towards the end of the league was a blow, and could have made the difference between safety and struggle.
“Colm is a stalwart of Tyrone and of Moy. He has done plenty of years service and he owes the club nothing.
“He did everything he could to get himself on the pitch, but hopefully over the next few weeks he will be back to fitness and we’ll get him back on the pitch again.
“But other players stepped up in his absence. It’s a young team developing and coming through, with some very good young players who have really come through this year and shone.
“Colm is a massive loss, but it has given the chance for young players to step up.
“Whenever you’re building in young players, it’s about learning how to see out the really tight games.”
