DARRAGH CROSS

Management:

Paul Murphy and Desi McNeill.

Championship programme:

Down SFC round one
Darragh Cross v Ballyholland

Team news:

What a year for Darragh Cross as they make their bow in the senior championship. Last year they were knocked out of the Intermediate championship at the semi-final stage by Newry Shamrocks but they still earned promotion through the league. Now they face an exciting season with the big-hitters in the county. Unfortunately Darragh Cross are missing a couple of players for this year’s championship. Shane Murray has gone to Australia and will be unavailable while Anton McGratton has been missing for a long time due to injury. There is no sign of his return for this year’s competition. Manager Paul Murphy told Gaelic Life that this season he wants to blood some of the younger players in the club. He said that they want to continually build the squad up and that means giving youth its chance where possible. Murphy said: “We have some exciting young footballers emerging. For such a small, rural club, who has no history in the senior championship, it is a massive year for the club and its development.”