By Michael McMullan

NIALL Conway had a hunch Swatragh’s Derry Senior Football Championship progress could go all the way to Sunday’s final group game against Bellaghy.

The Davitt’s need a draw to join Glen, Sleacht Néill and Dungiven in the quarter-finals whereas Bellaghy need to win.

It all points to the first real ‘championship’ game of the season. Speaking after their game with Kilrea, Conway didn’t entertain a draw as anything to aim for. The joint manager has been around enough corners to know this is where the championship really begins.

“It’s down to a good championship match against Bellaghy,” he pointed out. “That’s the prize for both teams.

“I’d a funny feeling it (qualification) would go down this way with the group that we’re in. It’s going to be a hell of a game.”

Conway, a former Derry minor manager, pointed at the tight turnaround and acknowledged the loads on their dual players – and dual clubs in general – for stepping up to the plate week in and week out.

“To play eight or nine weeks in a row, it’s very, very tough,” he added, highlighting their disappointment in the first half performance against Kilrea.

Swatragh were winners over Dungiven before losing heavily in Sleacht Néill. Their last outing saw them hit for three early Glen goals before staging a spirited comeback.

“This is not an easy place to go to, Kilrea will always put up to any team and show a lot of character. If you give away frees, players like James Kielt will just top them over the bar,” Conway said of their draw at Pearse Park.

“I was happy at times, but we know there’s a lot more improvement in our team as well. I thought we didn’t really do enough in the first half.”

Patrick Kearney’s goal levelled the game before his younger brother Sean put Swatragh into what Conway rated as a fortunate one-point interval lead.

“I thought we hadn’t enough urgency in our game,” he said. “The second half, we came out the first 15 minutes and I thought we saw more appetite in our play.

“We hit some good scores; we started putting a bit more pressure on Kilrea but we probably didn’t keep the foot on the pedal. Kilrea got a couple of frees, gave them a bit of momentum, brought them back into the game.”

Conway points to their missed chances and sometimes the wrong decision in taking an extra pass as areas for improvement.

“I think that’s been a flaw over Swatragh over the last four or five years, whenever these opportunities rise,” he said. “It’s a point where most teams would have crumbled the way we were in the last couple of minutes when we were just hanging on (against Kilrea) but we showed a bit of character.”