Junior Football Championship semi-final – Pairc Naomh Úna
Throw-in 3pm
It would be fair to say that St Agnes’ have endured a tough few years in recent times. A formidable match for anyone on their day, but perhaps lacked the consistency required to make a sustained push for honours. However, their performances to date in the 2024 Junior Championship has saw them finish proudly atthe top a very tricky group involving a budding Laochra outfit as well as county finalists of the previous two years, O’Donnells, and 2022 winners, Pearses.
The man at the helm of this Aggies renaissance is Clogher native Martin Shortt. A passionate football man who by all accounts has helped instil a greater sense of belief and pride back into the Aggies side. The Saffron Gael’s Niall Kelly caught up with Martin at the conclusion of their four point victory over O’Donnells.
When asked about how he had masterminded their Championship fortunes to date, the Tyrone native pointed to blooding players in the league and using it as a platform to learn from and push on for July.
“The league is obviously your bread and butter first of all. Preseason started around Christmas or just shortly after. Looking at the lads then, they were enthusiastic and mad to get going. We just wanted to get a bit of pride put back into the jersey and be competitive really that’s the way we looked at it.”
“When the Championship draw was made, we never looked much at it. We wanted to fulfil the fixtures in the league and see where we could finish first.”
Shortt remarked on how the early part of the league wasn’t ideal but that his troops started to find their way as Championship season approached.
“The early part of the league was obviously disappointing but I think the second half though was really good. We started to build up a bit of momentum. We knew we could bring that into Championship at some stage.”
The Aggies’ bainisteoir was under no illusions however at how tricky a prospect the other teams in the group would pose. Shortt then detailed how they got through it and how their victory over Pearses in the curtain raiser provided his players with the impetus they needed.
“You look at the Laochras, the Pearses, the Cardinal O’Donnells of the world, as you say this group was never going to be easy, but we had absolutely nothing to lose. We looked after ourselves and were ready for the first game away to Pearses. We knew that would be a tricky and difficult test which is exactly what it was. But to come out of there with the win gave us that bit of confidence and belief which went on into the Laochra game.”
With safe passage through to the knockouts confirmed even before a ball was kicked against O’Donnells, it wouldn’t have been a total disaster had the Aggies failed to gain the verdict. However, the man from the O’Neill county insisted how important guaranteeing pole position and a day off for his men would be and was fully aware of how testing a task the Whiterock men would pose.
“We had a to take on O’Donnells on our home patch and to keep that momentum going and look for the three wins which is massive and would give us that bit of time to get bodies recovered and a few days rest and then have a semi-final to look forward to..”
“We knew O’Donnells would be very tricky, and we weren’t taking them lightly as at the end of the day they’ve been in county final after county final and probably should’ve won it last year against Rasharkin. They’re well-schooled, they’re well drilled and they’re a big strong, physical outfit but that’s exactly the type of game you want to keep it going. It’ll stand us in good measure for the knockouts”
Naomh Úna welcome St Malachy’s to their home patch tomorrow in what is a massive occasion for the club. Having the day off a few weeks ago will surely help rejuvenate the squad further and if they can build upon their momentum, they will be quietly confident of reaching their first final since 2010.
Never ‘short’ of something to say. Aggies manager Martin Shortt bubbling with enthusiasm as he chats with Saffron Gael reporter Niall Kelly after the quarter-final win O’Donnell’s