Morgan's men get ready for local showdown

Curraha manager Stephen Morgan says his side is gearing up to play Dublin opponents Ballyboughal at Ballyboughal in the Leinster Club IFC on Saturday, 2pm in what is effectively a local derby. 

The fact that the teams are geographically close together should, he adds, bring an extra dimension to the unique encounter. 

"They are not too  far from us so yeah you could call it a local derby, " he said. " I saw them play last week but up to then I didn't know too much about them. This is the first time we will play them." 

Morgan says that he was impressed with a number of the Ballyboughal players including Gerry Seavers who represented Dublin at minor and u-21 levels and was on the fringes of the senior panel. 

Two years ago Morgan was the assistant manager of Curraha - alongside manager John O'Brien - when they reached the semi-final of the All-Ireland Club JFC where they were defeated by Kerry side Templenoe. He feels the experience gained on that journey will help the Curraha players this time around. 

"We were probably a little tactically naive down in Kilmallock when we played Templenoe, we concentrated too much on stopping them rather than expressing ourselves and gone was gone from our grasp by the time we tried to regain control but we learned a lot from that.  Just on the day we were probably a big defensive, hadn't enough up front." 

Morgan talks of how the team then was filled with youngsters and now they have added to their bank of experience including success in this year's Meath IFC.  Now he feels the team is more ready physically for the demands of provincial football.  

"Most of the team is now aged about 21, 22, they're just that bit further ahead in their development. We learned a lot from our run in the Leinster championship."

Because of their victory over O'Connells at Castlebellingham Curraha have the right to play Ballyboughal in what promises to be a fascinating contest.