Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
MAXIE SWAIN
DARREN MCNAMEE insists Immaculata can live up to their reputation for success this season after they shot down Newbuildings in the Intermediate Cup on Saturday.
It’s been all change at the Mac over the summer with Tony Heagney promoted to the Grosvenor Road hotseat in the wake of Kevin Lawlor’s decision to step down following last year’s Clarence Cup win.
Lawlor’s reign was a glorious one, of course, with the West Belfast outfit lifting more trophies over the past decade than any other team in Intermediate football.
But the experienced Mcnamee, brought in from Comber over the summer, insists the change in management does not equate to a lowering of ambitions, with the hunger for success burning just as fiercely as it did during the Lawlor days.
Immaculata have won seven of their last eight in all competitions and have a Steel Cup quarter-final against Killyleagh looming next month.
And Mcnamee, a losing Steel Cup finalist with Carrick Rangers in 2008, is feeling confident about his team’s prospects.
“The league is always the priority but the Steel Cup is a competition we want to do well in as well and that is one of the reasons why I joined the Mac. I believe I have a better chance of winning stuff here,” said the 32-year-old defender.
“We’d love to get our hands on it, especially after missing out to Dundela a couple of years ago. They just got destroyed on the day by all accounts, so that’s one they would like to avenge.
“But obviously it’s a tough game and at this stage of the competition all you can ask for is a home draw and we’ll take it.”
After relinquishing their Premier Division crown to Crumlin Star last season, reclaiming superiority in the Amateur League is the Mac’s top target.
To that end they got off to the worst possible start, losing their first two games to Star and Foundry before bouncing back with wins over Ards Rangers and 1st Bangor.
Their Border Cup loss to Suffolk earlier this month notwithstanding, they have been in fine form since, with Mcnamee adamant they will be in the hunt come the business end of the season.
“We are always going to be there or thereabouts,” said Mcnamee.
“The Mac have the right mentality, a winning mentality for the last number of years and from what I’ve seen in my short time there already it’s still there and there is big, big desire to keep it that way. Yes, there have been a few changes but from