Ardboe And Derrylaughan Outshine Errigal.

Monday 16.05.2011

Club

While Errigal Ciaran’s narrow win over Trillick moved them to the top of the Division One table, the most notable wins in the weekend’s programme were for two Loughshore sides. Ardboe’s victory away to Carrickmore was a statement of intent from a side which appears to be starting to fulfil its potential. They came agonisingly close to winning the championship two years ago but fell at the final hurdle when a late late penalty from Colm Mc Cullagh took the title back to Dromore. Last year however they failed to build on their achievements and when the trophies were being handed out at the end of the year there was no mention of the O’Donovan Rossas. I know there are no medals or cups handed out at this time of the year but the start made by Micky Donnelly’s team has been more than just a little impressive.

The weekend’s game away to a Carrickmore side bristling with confidence and determination was quite a challenge but brilliantly led by the Mc Guigan brothers, the visitors showed maturity and guile to engineer a win at a venue where very few teams get anything from.

With the league being very tight at the top it is often the games where the top sides face each other that decide the destiny of the league title. This narrow but merited win will give Ardboe a huge boost in confidence and a confident Ardboe side is a match for any team.

The other big winners at the weekend were Derrylaughan who capitalised on the current situation at Killyclogher to gain two massive points as they seek to climb the table. Already with only one third of the season gone there is a league within a league developing as the bottom seven or eight teams know that success for them is survival in senior football. This  will be largely determined by how they perform against the other teams in the bottom half of the table. Thus Derrylaughan’s victory away to Killyclogher was worth much more than just the two points that came with it. The Kevin Barry’s will take quite a bit of self belief from this win and with Moy up next at home they will be confident of taking another vital scalp as they go in search of first division safety.