Rogers: ‘We knew every game was going to be a battle’

JFC final preview

For Knockbride captain Paddy Rogers, it’s a case of so far, so good as they seek to get their hands on the Sean Leddy Cup.

The Canningstown-based side have been knocking on the door for a few years now, finally making the final last year where they lost to Ulster and All-Ireland champions in waiting Arva.

Now, they’re back on the big stage and hoping to make it count.

“This is where we set out to be from the start of the year, as much as we tried to focus on the league and hold our own there from the start of the year, that didn’t just work out for us and we did try our damndest to stay in Division 1 but from the outset, this was our plan, to try to get back to the junior final,” Rogers said.

Knockbride have been favourites since the start of the year to land the Sean Leddy Cup; it’s something they’re aware of and don’t try to play down.

Yes, they have been expected to do well but they know that they must perform for that to happen.

“I suppose we have been labelled outside our own bubble as favourites and probably rightly so and we’re not going to shy away from it, we were in Division 1 and we were beaten in the final last year.

“We knew there was going to be nothing handy, we had a couple of tight games and look, we got over the line in them all so we’re happy enough so far.

“I suppose everyone kind of thought we were going to walk it but there are no Junior Championship medals handed out at the start of the year, you have to win every game. We knew every game was going to be a battle.

“Listen, we have had some poorer performances and we’ll hold our hands up and admit that but we have had a couple of weeks now to work on all those things so hopefully we’re in a good place.”

Knockbride have a full squad to pick from for the county final, with Philip Rogers back from Australia and the younger players in the team having stepped up to play leading roles this campaign.

“We’re at full tilt, thankfully we’ve nobody injured so we’re not down anybody. We had Liam Fay back for the semi-final, we had Micheál Smith back and Philip (Rogers) came off the bench, they’re three real good assets for any team, I’d say any team across any grade would be delighted to have them.

“Lorcan Reilly and those boys take everything as it comes, I’d say any team in the county would be glad to have them. When you have a lad like Lorcan who can step up and kick eight or nine points for you, and he has done it time and time again for us this year and we’re trying to take a bit of that weight off him, but no, we’re damn glad to have lads like Lorcan Reilly, Kyle McCabe and Micheál Smith.”

Against Redhills in the semi-final, the game was low-scoring and close in the first half before Knockbride found a higher gear in the third quarter.

“We regrouped at half-time, we knew that we weren’t performing near to our potential. It was a tough day to play a game now, there was a swirling wind around the field but we’re not going to start blaming weather conditions. We got to grips with it at the start of the second half, we regrouped and, yah, we kicked on in that first 20 minutes of the second half.”

Belturbet await and Rogers knows the Rorys will provide a very stern test.

“We’ve had a good eye on Belturbet all year, we knew we were going to come across them at some stage if we were going to win this Junior Championship. They have plenty of players who will take watching, I’m sure we’ll have one or two that they’ll have to watch as well.

“They have loads of experience, they have plenty of lads who played in the Intermediate final a few years ago against Laragh so we’re looking forward to it, yeah.

“We planned to be back here from the start of the year, we were bitterly disappointed to lose last year to Arva and from the start, this was our goal and this is where we wanted to be.”