By Michael McMullan

ST PATRICK’S, Lisburn have their sights set on a return to Division Two and currently sit top of the table, but there are still plenty of twists and turns to manoeuvre.

That’s how joint manager Cormac McKenna sees their progress. They face Wolfe Tones before the mid-season split that leaves the top five teams playing off for the title and promotion. The top team will be automatically promoted with the second placed team facing a play-off.

Lisburn came second in 2018 and while they only won a single game in Division Two the following year, the learning curve helped them towards the Junior Championship.

“A lot of the games were competitive, we were losing by three or four points and were rarely suffering any heavy defeats,” recalls McKenna, who forms a three-man management team with Martin Kennedy and Myles Cahill.

Exposure to a higher level helped them along their successful championship journey and the core of that team are now in their mid-20s. They’ve added the spine of last year’s u-20 B Championship winning team.

“From the second half of last season until now, the dynamics of our team has changed,” McKenna pointed out.

“Our senior team is going through a bit of an evolution with those younger lads coming through.”

After two wins, Lisburn made the journey to reigning junior champions St Comgall’s with added twist of their 2019 winning manager Niall Ward being at the helm.

McKenna said his side had a tough start to the season with their first five games coming against sides above them in the league.

A late goal saw the Antrim side overcome Lisburn 2-8 to 0-9, with their second goal coming late on to put a gloss on the scoreline.

“We knew St Comgall’s would be one of our main rivals for promotion,” McKenna stated.

“It was a setback for us, but it was one of those occasions when you have to learn from a defeat. That’s what develops a bit of character in the team.

“We showed that one defeat is not going to knock us off for the rest of the year.

“We are happy enough where we are, but there is a long way to go.”

With Lisburn safe in the top half with one game to spare, McKenna looks ahead to a very competitive end to the season.

“It’s a case of one defeat and you could be down to third place,” he said. “We obviously have a goal and a target for the year, but if we look too far ahead we could trip up very easily.”

When the second half of the season kicks into action, Lisburn had a slender advantage of having St Gall’s, O’Donnell’s and St Comgall’s at home.

“We are happy enough,” McKenna added. “It is a small advantage…but it’s nothing major.”

It’s for another day, but Lisburn are back in the Intermediate Championship, grouped with Dunloy and Sarsfields for the second year running, with Ardoyne also in the mix.

“We have set the precedent, we want to be an intermediate club even though we are playing third tier football. We said that to the players…we have to get ourselves out of the third tier, that’s the be all and end all.

“We are setting the bar high, but we know there is a lot of work still to be done. It is going to take a hell of an effort to stay there until the end of the year.”