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Steelstown just one step away from Ulster final

Gary Ferry, 4 Nov

Ulster Championship Semi-final

Castleblayney Faughs vs. Steelstown Brian Ogs

Monaghan

Today, 2pm

Thomas Cusack has every faith in his players as Steelstown travel to

Monaghan to face the might of Castleblayney in today's Ulster

Intermediate semi-final.

A 5-18, 0-7 victory over Granemore has this week’s opponents in high

spirits ahead of today's semi-final, and Steelstown will know they have

to be better if they are to get to a second Ulster final in just three

years.

Steelstown did enough to see off a young Omagh, St. Enda’s team at

Healy Park last week, emerging as 1-8, 0-5 winners in a game where they

never really got out of second gear.

“It’s another step closer,” manager Thomas Cusack said afterwards.

“What you can from Saturday was that it was job done. We knew what we

had to do. It wasn’t a vintage performance, it was workmanlike, we were

a bit nervy at times, but we got over the line, we played enough

football to get it done.

“It was difficult and it’s heavy and it was a big pitch, but we managed

the game well. They didn’t really ask questions of us, we shut them

down and closed them out.”

Steelstown do have players for the big occasion, as witnessed when they

demolished Glen in the Derry County final just a week before last, and

at this stage, Cusack agrees, it’s all about getting results.

“It’s about taking the extra step and building on it,” he acknowledged.

“We’re in a good place so we’ll just get back on the training pitch.

When we go out on a Saturday, the only focus we have is getting back on

the training pitch on a Monday. It’s a turnaround every week so

everyone stays focused, knowing what they have to do.”

Steelstown are now just one game away from another Ulster final, and

one step closer to redemption having been so cruelly denied just 12

months ago.

“The girls have put last year behind them,” Cusack insisted. “They just

go out and they know what they’re playing for, they’re playing for the

next game. That’s all it is, play week on week and try to get to the

final. We don’t look past the next match; we don’t look past the final

I’s just getting over the line this week. I have been through

everything with them at this stage, and they have all matured

throughout the years, so I have confidence in them.”

‘It’s all about the result’

Meanwhile, Orla McGeough, who scored 0-5 against Omagh and was

Steelstown’s ‘Player of the Match’ last week, insists that the team are

just taking it one game at a time.

“It could have been better, but it’s about the team, isn’t it? It

doesn’t matter who’s on the scoreboard, as long as you get a result,”

she said. “Quarterfinals are for winning and thankfully we are through

to the semi-finals. We haven’t had a good draw this year. We’ve had two

away matches so it will be tough, travelling away to face whoever it

is, but we’ll just take each match as it comes and do the job on the

day.”

Steelstown were controversially kicked out of Ulster at the semi-final

stage 12 months ago, but there is a new outlook this time around and a

fresh optimism that they can go all the way.

“What happened last year is always in the back of our minds but we have

tried to put it to bed this year,” Orla stated. “It’s a fresh start,

and a new team with younger players coming in as well, so we’re just

building and hopefully we’ll do okay. Hopefully Ulster is a better

turnaround for us this year and we’ll see if we can go all the way.

“I think the turnaround does help us. It helps us build a bit of

momentum coming into the match. I know a lot of the counties had a bit

of a break, so they might be feeling a bit fresher, bit I think it

works well for us.”