BURREN must avoid becoming preoccupied with Mayobridge’s glittering forward line if they are to have any chance of glory in Sunday’s Powerade Senior Football Championship final, according to one of their most senior players.

During his 14 years playing for the club, corner forward Aidan McGivern has literally seen and done it all. He experienced the highs of winning the Championship in 1997, to the lows of Burren’s recent barren spell.

Having defeated Rostrevor, Bryansford and Clonduff on the way to Sunday’s final, Aidan has told his teammates they have nothing to lose when they line out at St Patrick’s Park.
Referring in particular to the feted Bridge forward line, Aidan believes the Burren men should concentrate on their own performance.

He said: “There’s no doubt Mayobridge are a difficult team to beat and they have proved that time and time again over the years.

“The way I look at it, there’s no point worrying about who they have in their team. The fact is they are going to score points, we just have to make sure we do our best to counteract whatever they do.

“Mayobridge have talented forwards but we have to focus on what we want to do in this game. We have good players too and we’ve shown that by getting past some very difficult sides on the way to the final.

“This is a chance for a lot of the young lads to show they can play on the big stage. It would mean a hell of a lot to me and the other players if we could win on Sunday, but we can’t even afford to think about that at this stage. We deserve our place in the final, and hopefully we will do ourselves justice,” he added.

Burren have been revitalised since James McCartan took the reigns at his home club last year, although speculation is mounting that he could soon fill the vacant Down manager’s post.

For now though, his thoughts remain fully trained on Sunday’s clash with former Down colleague Mickey Linden’s slick Bridge outfit.

“There hasn’t really been any talk about James’ future, and he certainly hasn’t said anything,” explained Aidan.

“All I can say is that none of the players want to see him go. He is doing a great job, and commands the total respect of all the players, but importantly he also has a great backroom team.

“There are a lot of young lads in the side this year and we’re playing a different kind of football than we have in the past.

“When the likes of Shorty (Trainor) was playing, you just had to give him the ball and he would make something happen. He could play the ball right into your hands from anywhere in the pitch.

“This team probably doesn’t have the same level of technical ability but we are a very hard-working side that puts teams under pressure from the first whistle. As long as everybody sticks to their job, we will be in with a chance.”

Taken from the Mourne Observer