Caulry face fancied Bun' side with final place at stake

Caulry have already achieved more in this year's intermediate championship than many had expected. Having won last year's junior championship, the main aim for this year was probably to retain intermediate status. But Caulry managed to qualify from Division 1 and then went on to defeat a fancied Tang side in the quarter-finals. And next Saturday at Cusack Park (5.45pm), they aim to go a step further when they take on Bunbrosna - one of the favourites for the title from the outset of the championship - in the first of this year's semi-finals. Caulry manager Brendan Clarke was very pleased with the way his charges dug deep to overcome Tang in their last outing, as a late goal from a penalty by Peter Smyth secured a 2-9 to 0-13 victory. "Getting the players to keep fighting to the end is something we've been concentrating on. We've been behind in a few matches during the year and we've managed to come back. There was only a few points in it against Tang and it wasn't as if the game had gone away from us. The only time to be ahead is at the final whistle, it doesn't matter whether you're ahead at half-time or earlier in the game," said Clarke. "We're not putting any pressure on the players, most of them are young lads and they play off the cuff. They don't have any fear and that's a good thing," said Clarke, who is joined at the helm by selectors Jody Malynn and Kevin Connaughton. Clarke agrees that the victory over Tang - who had produced some impressive displays in this year's championship - should give his team confidence. "A lot of people would have seen Tang, Bunbrosna and Ballynacargy, as the three teams that would be in contention to win the intermediate championship this year," he pointed out. Caulry played Saturday's opponents in the group stages, with Bunbrosna coming away with a 0-10 to 0-7 victory in Shandonagh. The Mount Temple side will hope the lessons learned from that defeat can be put to good use on Sunday. "It was a game that we could have won at the end, but Bunbrosna were the better team on the day. It was a really wet day, the conditions were atrocious and Bunbrosna adapted better to the conditions. They are a more experienced team than ourselves and they coped better with the conditions," recalled Clarke. With a number of skilful, ball players in their ranks, Caulry would seem to be a side more suited to dry conditions. Yet Clarke insists that they must adapt on Saturday, irrespective of whatever conditions they're faced with. "We're into September and now and you have to adapt to the conditions, whether there's rain or sunshine, there's no point making excuses," he said. The Ferbane man admits that his side could be described as being in 'bonus territory' but, with a county final place at stake, it's clear that he doesn't want to just settle for reaching the semi-finals. "At the start of the year, our aim was to stay up in intermediate football and then make the play-offs and see how far we could go. But the underage system in Caulry has been very good in recent years. If you have good players coming through from underage, it's much easier to build a team at adult level," said Clarke. "A lot of Caulry players picked up good experience in the Leinster Colleges championship with Athlone Community College and they've played at underage level for the county. Many of the players have gone on to third level and playing with and against good players who have played at inter-county level is great experience and it boosts their confidence. "The only thing we lack is experience of adult football. When you're playing at a higher level, the pace of the game is faster, and that's the level we're trying to get up to. Bunbrosna have more experience of intermediate and senior football in recent years. Peter Tormey is a very good forward, they're strong around midfield and their backs are tight." As part of their preparations, Caulry recently played challenge matches against Brendan's native club, Ferbane, and Athlone, a club Brendan knows well from his spells there as manager. Injuries mean Caulry are missing Declan Donohoe (cruciate ligament), Cormac Fox and Eoghan Grennan (shoulder injury), who scored the winning point in Caulry's victory over Moate All Whites in the group stages. Johnny Buckley is working in Germany at present but is flying over and back for training and matches, and Brendan acknowledges the defender's "great commitment" to the cause. The performance of Peter Smyth was crucial to the win over Tang and Caulry will be hoping he can produce another big display against Bunbrosna. "Peter had cartilage problems earlier in the year and he's not back to full fitness yet as he missed some of the early stamina work, but he's an excellent footballer, he has a good eye for a score and he's a good team player," said Clarke. In the other IFC semi-final, Ballynacargy - who narrowly defeated Rosemount last weekend - will face Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall on Saturday week, September 18 (Cusack Park, 5pm). It will be the third year in a row that the teams have met at the semi-final stage.