Egan admits that Croan’s will be underdogs against Kiltimagh
Ryan Hanley and his St. Croan's team-mates will be hoping to cause an upset against Kiltimagh. Picture: Bernie O'Farrell
St. Croan’s manager, Vinnie Egan, has insisted that his side will be underdogs when they meet Kiltimagh in Sunday’s Connacht Junior Football Championship semi-final at Ballyforan (throw-in at 1.30 p.m.).
The Roscommon champions produced a patchy performance in seeing off Cloonacool by eight points last Sunday, and, with a mounting injury list, Egan admits that his side will be up against it next weekend.
“Kiltimagh came down from intermediate last year. They’re a great team. We will definitely be underdogs going into it. They have a serious calibre of players and squad depth. They’ll be favourites all day long to beat us. But we’ll go there to do a job, and hopefully we can do it,” he said after Sunday’s 2-12 to 1-7 triumph.
Like Croan’s, Kiltimagh wasted little time in returning to the intermediate ranks after being relegated in 2024. They enjoyed a comfortable 1-17 to 0-7 victory against Eastern Gaels in the Mayo decider, building on a three-point interval lead to run out convincing winners.
Paul Kelly, Fionnan Burke, Jack Niland and Jordan Henry handed them a 0-7 to 0-4 buffer at half time, before substitute Aidan Cosgrove struck 1-2 to ensure Kiltimagh won the Pete McDonnell Cup for the seventh time in the club’s history.
Niland and captain Liam Kelly have been superb in defence, Paul Kelly has been a dominant figure around the middle third, while wing-forward Brian Gallagher, Thomas Keegan and Fionnan Burke have impressed in attack.
But Croan’s are not without hope if they can improve from their quarter-final showing. Greg Grogan is scheduled to return to the defence, but Kevin Smyth and Conor Kennedy will miss the game through injury. Ross Timothy is also in a race against time to be fit for Sunday's game.
Outside of captain Ger Connaughton, it was the team’s younger players, led by Roscommon U-20 players Eoin Collins and Alan Conroy, and Ryan Hanley, that furrowed a path towards victory against the Sligo champions.
“The numbers and the intensity at training have been superb,” continued Egan.
“The lads have put their shoulder to the wheel, as they’ve done all year. We got our reward today. I know it was messy at times, but we dug it out.”
A repeat of the indecision in front of goal won’t be good enough on Sunday. But, crucially, St. Croan’s have the quality personnel to make the necessary adjustments.
But meeting a Mayo side that appear to be full of confidence is a tough ask.
