Twin blow for Errigal as Crossmaglen loom
Damien ‘Daisy’ McDermott is suspended, while Caolan Tierney is on holiday.
McDermott received a straight red card in the Tyrone side’s quarter-final win over Ballinderry, and manager Ronan McGuckin confirmed yesterday that Tierney is abroad, and will play no part in the Clones showdown.
“He’s on holidays and he’s not going to be available to us.
“Caolan agonised over it, it was something he had booked over a year ago, a three-week break,” said McGuckin.
“I wasn’t going to put a block in his way, and he has decided to go, with my full support, but it’s a blow to the team obviously.”
The Errigal boss is confident that strength in depth will help him overcome the double setback as his side attempts to halt the Armagh giants’ drive for a third successive All-Ireland title
“Two players off your first fifteen, no matter where they are on the field, is hard to replace.
“But we would consider that we have a fairly strong panel, and we would hope to be able to cope with that.
“Obviously, going in against Crossmaglen, you need to be right on top of your game, but I would have full faith in the fellows that will be coming in for them.
“We actually made the point before the Ulster Club campaign started that it is one competition that if you get a bit or a run in it, you can go through a fairly high turnover of players for avariety of reasons.
“So it was something that we had prepared for and expected to happen. What can we do? The die has been cast and we’ll just go out and give it our best and see where it takes us.”
McGuckin watched Cross demolish Donegal champions St Eunan’s last Sunday, and saw nothing to ease his concerns over the size of the task that faces Errigal Ciarán.
“I was sitting up in the stand in the Athletic Grounds. They were veryimpressive as usual, but you wouldexpect that from a team going for their third All-Ireland in a row.
“They’re the benchmark, very impressive.”
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