Bouncing straight back would be huge for club

DAIRE Englishby has played in enough big games to know that if Mattock Rangers are to make a fairytale return to the senior ranks, they will have to work mighty hard for the privilege on Sunday.

‘It’s our biggest 60 minutes so far and it will probably be the hardest,’ he says. ‘We’ve been improving throughout the campaign so hopefully we’ll have enough in the tank to get over the line on Sunday, but we know it won’t be easy. The Joe’s are a good side and they’ve been there or thereabouts for the past few years.’

After last year’s relegation Mattock pulled together to give promotion a lash and Englishby wasn’t surprised to see a number of the older Mattock players hang on for another year.

‘I’m sure after playing senior for so long they didn’t want to leave in intermediate. So for the past year we’ve put a big push on and hopefully we can go straight back up and drive the club forward for the young lads coming through.

‘The Joe’s young lads are probably looking at it and saying they’re ready for senior now and they have the quality, but we still feel we have the squad there to challenge in senior too.’

The Joe’s have become embroiled in a long battle to get out of the intermediate ranks and Daire feels its important that Mattock take their chance straight away.

‘The longer you stay there the tougher it will become with teams coming down and other teams building around you, so to get back up in the first year would be great.’

After just missing out on a topfour finish in the league it was been a good season for Mattock so far and Daire feels that they have been growing in confidence with every game.

‘In a couple of the league games we were beaten by late goals against Clogherhead and the Mary’s and that probably cost us (a top-four spot), but in the championship we’ve managed to learn from those mistakes and grind out the onepoint victories and hopefully that will stand to us on Sunday.

‘The Bride’s and Clans are two of the big teams so it was always going to be tough. But we knew if we got out of it we’d be able to compete and push forward and challenge for a place in the final.

‘The Irelanders match probably wasn’t a 10-point game. They were impressive at the start, going 1-4 to 0-1 up and it took us a while to get going and to match their intensity, but in the second-half we lifted it but managed to pull away.’

It was the opposite in the semi-final as Mochta’s made Rangers sweat right to the finish.

‘We seemed to get a great start, but then sit back and struggle. The Mochta’s came back at us with great intensity and we just couldn’t seem to come back from it and in the end the final whistle was a bit of a relief.’

The Joe’s will be another step, Daire feels and the Mattock management team always felt they would have a big say in the destination of the Seamus Flood Cup.

‘Derek (Walsh) and Christy (Grimes) said they had ear-marked the Joe’s from the start. They have been very impressive and they have some very talented young players and a few others like Derek Mulligan who has been around a while. They have some very good forwards and they’re tight at the back so we’ll have to be ready for them.’