Ahead of this weekend’s county final between Carryduff and Kilcoo, Carryduff player John McGeough picked out what makes the Magpies such a dominant force in the county.
“When we played them in the last final (2020), it was a strange one, because we had not played them before. We didn’t know what we were coming up against. But the thing with Kilcoo is, you just need to be alert for the whole game. They are fit and they are nonstop for the whole game with the running they do. It is just chaos.
“They have runners coming from everywhere, as they are trying to move your defence around. Their runs are not just for the craic. They are running to take players out of the way to create space. They are very good at that. Every team tries to do that, but no team is as good at it as Kilcoo.”
Despite the pressure of the county final, John said that Carryduff have adopted a positive attitude.
“I think it is more relaxed this year. Maybe because we have been through it all before. The last few years, we thought we could do it, but we were nowhere near it. This year we know what our faults have been for the last few years.”
Around the club, the atmosphere has been positive. John said that the boost of having a big crowd at the semi-final was important. “Someone organised a bus for all the kids. That does wonders for us. Hearing them shouting us on, that is important. Kilcoo are brilliant at it. They have all the kids shouting behind the nets trying to put you off. That makes some difference. Now having Carryduff doing that is great.”
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