BY SEÁN HOLLAND
THE Adrigole footballers are riding high after winning the Division 5 county league. Now the Beara side’s sights are firmly set on making a significant impact in the upcoming McCarthy Insurance intermediate A football championship.
Their league campaign culminated in a thrilling 2-8 to 0-13 victory over Buttevant in the league final. Reflecting on the season so far, manager Tim O’Sullivan also shared his thoughts ahead of their championship campaign.
‘We set out our stall at the start of the year that we’d go out to win every game in the league, try to win the league and get promotion to Division 4,’ O’Sullivan said.
‘We knew getting up to Division 4 would mean a lot for us. We've a lot of young lads coming through next year. We were beaten in our first game by Buttevant, but we went very well after that. We got into the final, and we won a great game against Buttevant in Kilmurry so we were very happy with the league campaign.
‘I was very happy too with how the lads applied themselves, they were excellent. We've had a few barren years in Adrigole as well. It’s been a long time since we had a bit of silverware (2009 county league Division 4 title). It was nice for the players and their families just to get to the final, to get a bit of silverware, and it sets us up nicely for the championship as well,’ he added.
The victory has brought a renewed sense of energy and optimism to the squad.
‘Even since the league final, training is going very well. Lads are stepping up their game and they're looking forward to the championship. We have three big games in the group stage. But definitely looking forward to it and the players are eager for it as well,’ O’Sullivan said.
Adrigole face a challenging road ahead, starting with a tough match this Sunday evening (5.30pm) in Ballyvourney against Dromtarriffe, who previously defeated them 2-10 to 1-11 in the league.
‘It’s one game at a time, because we have Dromtarriffe first and they beat us in the league. They’re a very good side so it’s absolutely one game at a time for us. We know we'll be up against it – they have a couple of top players, were very unlucky not to get to a county final themselves last year and were probably the one team that drove Aghabullogue close last year. Definitely, we wouldn't be looking past them at this stage,’ stated the Adrigole boss.
The Beara side is in a group containing Dromtarriffe, Kildrorrey, and Gabriel Rangers. Still the goal for the season remains clear: advance beyond the group stage and push further into the championship.
‘Obviously, what you'd love to do is win your three group games, and go straight into a semi-final. At the end of the day, we're looking to make progress every year. We were in a semi-final last year so we'd love to push on, but you have to get out of the group first,’ he said.
‘Teams are very even now at this stage as well. Dromtarriffe, Killdorrey, and Gabriel Rangers are three top teams, there's no easy game. We just have to take it one game at a time. Definitely, our goal would be, first of all, to get out of the group stages and we can go from there.’
