By Shaun Casey

AFTER a four-week break following their county final victory over Burren, Ceilum Doherty and Kilcoo have recharged the batteries and are ready to go once again ahead of the Ulster Championship campaign.

The Magpies have been the dominant force in the Mourne County for a fair while now and continued that trend with a handsome nine-point victory in the decider. Their Ulster voyages haven’t been as successful of late, however.

Kilcoo were crowned Ulster champions in 2021 before going all the way to capture the All-Ireland title. But since then, they lost the 2022 final to Glen and were knocked out at the semi-final stage by Scotstown last season.

“As I always say, it’s a great competition and we’re just glad we’re involved in it this year,” said Kilcoo and Down defender Ceilum Doherty. “Since our club final we had a month’s break so we’re very excited, we’ve a bit of hard training done and we’re ready to go again.”

Doherty added: “We just got back to work after the county final, especially with a few boys being away with the county, including myself, so it gives you the opportunity to get back in and get more time. So, we definitely used it very well and it’s going very good at the minute.”

Karl Lacey’s side take on Cavan champs Crosserlough in the opening round and will enjoy the home comforts of Newry. It’s a new meeting for both clubs, although Doherty has crossed paths with some of their players at county level.

Dara McVeety and Paddy Lynch are the two names that instantly jump off the Crosserlough team sheet, although sharpshooter Lynch missed out on their county championship journey having suffered an ACL injury earlier in the year,

“You always watch every other county in Ulster just to see what’s going on and they made light work of a very tough Cavan Championship,” added Doherty. “They have got a lot of strong county pedigree in their team, so they’ll be a very strong opposition. (McVeety and Lynch) are top players, they’re very key players to Cavan football and have been over the years.”

Lynch’s availability remains unclear at this stage and Doherty insists Kilcoo will be focusing on themselves. “We have enough to work about, to worry about ourselves, whatever happens happens but we’ll just be worrying about Crosserlough as a whole.”

Doherty, who played a key role in helping Down capture the Tailteann Cup and earning promotion to Division Two this year, now shares a changing room with Down manager Conor Laverty at club level.

Dealing with Laverty on those two levels is something he, and the other Kilcoo boys, have had to get used to.

“It’s a different perspective now,” Doherty explained “Conor’s just another player in the dressing room and he’s a key cog in Kilcoo. He’s just like everyone else, like every other panel member, so that’s the way it goes in Kilcoo.”