Dromore’s best ever team: McIver
Dromore's Cathal Mc Carron and Ardboe's John Mc Conville tussle for possesssion in the Dromore defence. INTT3612-708DCA
Dromore and Errigal Ciaran go head to head for the first time ever in a senior championship final this Sunday in a game that also brings together two managers from the Ballinderry club, St.Dympnas’ Paul McIver and Errigal’s Ronan McGuckin in opposite dugouts.
Dromore boss McIver is full of admiration for his Shamrocks club mate and he knows that the defending champions are up against it on Sunday.
“Ronan has instilled an awful lot of steel into this Errigal Ciaran side” says Paul. “He is an absolute legend round our club and is a man that I always looked up to and it will be a great honour to go side by side with him in a county final.
“We set out at the start of the year and this is were we wanted to be and the lads have worked extremely hard and have got their just rewards for the hard work that they have put in. We are up against one of the powerhouses in Tyrone football but it’s a game between two sides who have great traditions at this level as Dromore have shown in recent years.
“Over the past five years we have lost only two times in twenty six senior championship matches and it’s a great record to have but it will mean nothing next Sunday if we come off the field defeated so we are just focussed on the game.
“Errigal Ciaran and Carrickmore are the two greats of Tyrone football and we know that if we want to get to that level we have to beat one of those powerhouses to get there; they are one of those sides.”
Dromore needed a replay to overcome the challenge of Killyclogher in the semi final and Paul feels that their opponents didn’t get the credit that they deserved from the drawn game.
“Killyclogher put an awful lot of work in both nights and deserve a lot of credit for the way that they played. They are a side with a proud tradition in the championship and, to be honest, I felt a wee bit aggrieved reading in some of the papers that we didn’t give them enough respect in the first game.
“We give every side that we are playing respect and as a management team we prepare the same for every game. They worked harder than us the first night and nearly beat us.”
Dromore finally got their hands on the O’Neill Cup in 2007 and they are unquestionably the top side in the county at present as they prepare for their fifth decider in half a dozen years as they attempt to win it for a fourth time and retain it for a first time. They go into the decider with a full bill of health and Paul is looking forward to it.
“We are very lucky that everybody is available to us coming into the final. We had the likes of Mickey Garry, Barry Collins and Conor O’Neill all on the bench in the semi final replay and that was the first time this season that we had a full squad of players to pick from and that means that there is great competition for places.
“We have also blooded a lot of young players and some of them came on in the semi-final replay and were brilliant with Tomas McCarron getting forward late on to get his name on the scoresheet.
“I’m looking forward to the game but it’s all about the players. My job is easy as I’m managing the best bunch of players every to come out of Dromore and I’m just a figurehead” he said modestly.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Dungannon
Wednesday 22 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 4 C to 12 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 4 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 21 mph
Wind direction: North
