Hectic schedule and you have to manage it accordingly - Caolan Ward

Caolan Ward admits that a quickfire SFC group stage and the potential of an immediate preliminary round quarter-final on top of that is making players take extra precautions when it comes to looking after their bodies.

The experienced St Eunan’s man hopes the Letterkenny outfit can secure a win away to St Michael’s this coming Saturday and claim one of those precious top-four berths.

As well as a direct route into the last eight, that will also provide a week’s respite before the action once again gets underway at the quarter-finals.

St Eunan’s dished out an 18-point pummelling to Ardara in O’Donnell Park last Sunday and they go into the final round of group games in that coveted fourth spot, just in front of Naomh Conaill, on score difference.

So that facile 1-22 to 0-4 win over Ardara could yet have a huge bearing on the final standings as far as Rory Kavanagh’s side is concerned.

“I know we’re playing for points but we’re also playing for scores and even places,” said Ward after. “The final round might well come down to score difference so that 1-20 score, against the 0-4 at the other end, it could have an impact.

“That was the message, to just keep the scoreboard ticking. Ardara came in off the back of a win over Glenfin. We believed they’d be coming to put us under pressure. But bar their first two scores, we dominated most areas.

“We also put their keeper under pressure and that made it difficult for them to get out”.

Conor O’Donnell Jnr posted 0-8 last time out and the Black and Amber No 13 is currently on a real hot streak in front of the posts. As well as that haul, he was also the man setting up Ciaran Moore to goal late on.

“Conor is really establishing himself now,” said Ward. “Even taking on frees and the responsibility of ‘45s, that says a lot about his character. But I see the practice he puts in at training. He’s clocking up good scores each week.

“Further down the line, when the margins are much thinner, that will be a huge help for us. I’ve no doubt about that”.

On Saturday, Eunan’s go to the Bridge to take on struggling St Michael’s, who have lost two and drawn one so far in the SFC - with their one point coming on Sunday, in Tir Chonaill Park, against Four Masters.

Still, Ward says his team isn’t foolish enough to disregard their Creeslough/ Dunfanaghy opposition, especially on their own patch.

“St Michael’s at the Bridge, it can be blustery up there and just really hard to get to grips with for the away team. We like big open spaces. So they’ll make it tight and structured. We have to aim to win the game. We can’t worry too much about the shape of the table or whatever.

“If we get the win we can then just look where it leaves us. The focus now is to just start preparing for that. Week on week, we were just chatting about it there, you start to feel it. We actually got a bit of sun as well this weekend so it was hot and humid.

“So the basics like recovery, hydration and just easing into the week’s training are really important. You don’t want to pick up any kind of niggle. Even something small could damage your chance of being involved. So all that takes management.

“It asks something different of players. And you have to take real ownership of that”.