Naomh Padraig delighted to begin championship with derby win

Naomh Padraig Uisce Chaoin would love to go a step further than last season when they narrowly missed out on a place in the final of the Junior A Football Championship.

Last year, the side from Ture lost on penalties against Moville in the semi-final on penalties.

This year’s campaign got underway with an 0-11 to 1-3 victory over Urris after the game manager Daniel McCauley was content with the start his team made to the competition.

“We were very slow out of the blocks and it was cagey,” he said afterwards .We managed it well so overall we were happy.

“Last year we were beaten in the semi finals on penalties. This year we aim to go all the way. We are looking at the final again. As for now it’s game by game but we got our first box ticked and all is good.” continued McCauley.

Jonathan Toye had an excellent game for Naomh Padraig as he kicked six points

“We knew coming into this game that we were probably going to come up against a defensive team,” he said. “We’re playing Division 2 this year, we won’t take any of these games for granted. 

“We know teams are going to be out for us as we were playing that division up and we will be a big scalp for some teams. Overall we are happy with the performance especially against the wind in the second half as we scored four points, which is a good return.”

“The win was really important, first game in. If you lose your first game you’re in a fighting battle. We’re looking to top the group. There's no beating around the bush; it's really important especially with an away trip to Naomh Ultan.”

On the flipside, Urris manager Brian Doherty wasn’t too down beat with the result and happy with his team's performance. 

“We’re happy enough with the performance our boys put in. It’s never an easy week to get them out after the holidays and festival,” he said. “It’s a learning experience and they’re just going to push on through it.”

Doherty doesn’t believe this result will put them on the back foot and hopes they can give Moville a tough game this weekend.

“Their aim for the season is to be winning our home matches in the group stages anyway. That is a definite anyway for us,” he added.