By Shaun Casey

CRAIGBANE can still call upon five players that collected Ulster Intermediate medals back in 2011 and those experienced heads, along with the freshness of youth, has created the perfect blend says manager Kevin Moore.

The Derry champions are just 60 minutes away from reaching the Ulster Junior decider, with only Monaghan winners Drumhowan standing between them and a place in the provincial final.

They have already defeated both Killeeshil of Tyrone and Cavan representatives Knockbride to reach the last four stage despite being the underdogs on both occasions. But they found a way to come through both of those tough tests.

“We have experience, we have youth, and then we have lads that’s been there maybe three or four years,” explained Moore. “I think we have five of the Intermediate team in 2011 that reached the Ulster final still playing.

“We have plenty of experience but every game that you play in this Ulster Championship, it doesn’t matter what level, it’s just a battle. Any team can beat each other. If we had listened to all the stuff that we heard about Knockbride, we might as well of stayed at home.

“But if we went out and it was a battle and it could have gone either way. Our boys played to their max, they put on a massive shift, especially coming in from a week’s turnaround after beating Killeeshil.”

Those victories have come at a cost however as Craigbane have lost a couple of key men through injury. Both David Lowry and Cahir O’Kane picked up season-ending injuries in that opening round.

“We’ve had two tough battles and they both could have gone either way, but our boys are going well. We’ve had injuries and we thought they were clearing up, but we lost a couple against Killeeshil,” added Moore.

“There’s one of them with an ACL, another boy has a fracture in his knee, and we have another fella that had to get a plate in his jaw. We’ve lost our full-back and our centre half-forward, two key positions, but the boys that have come in have filled their boots rightly.

“There isn’t much time to recover, but we have a few older heads on the bench there that I was glad to call upon whenever I needed them. Our team has a blend of youth and experience.”

Craigbane are really facing into the unknown this weekend too, as Moore admitted: “It’s a good competition and you can only do so much. Once you get out of your own county they don’t know as much about you, and we don’t know much about them.

“They’re a junior club in Monaghan, that’s as much as we know about them. We’ll worry about ourselves and let them worry about us. That’s the way we’re approaching it. We’ll worry about ourselves and let Drumhowan worry about us then if they want.”