You end up where you should be believes Annaduff manager Joe Cox

Annaduff may be sentimental favourites for the 2023 Smith Monumentals IFC Final against Melvin Gaels after three previous final losses but Joe Cox isn’t the sentimental type, stressing that wherever his team ends up next Sunday, it is where they deserve to be.

Speaking after Saturday’s 4-10 to 0-18 semi-final victory over Allen Gaels, Joe was dismissive of the idea that Annaduff might deserve a win after so many appearances in the final: “Football is a great leveller and we will end up where we should be - at the end of that game on Sunday, we will either have won it or we’ll have lost it. If we have improved this year, we should be able to see that on Sunday.

“We won’t get anything if we’re not good enough. If we’re good enough next Sunday, we’ll win it and if we’re not, we won’t and that’s the harsh reality of it. I’m at this long enough to understand that. We’re really good at reaching semi-finals but the bad days we’ve had are the days of County Finals - they’re either going to step up or they’re not.”

Annaduff back in final as Cox inspires victory over Allen Gaels in epic shootout

ANNADUFF 4-10 ALLEN GAELS 0-18

Lest you get the wrong impression of some blunt manager spelling out harsh truths, the reality is that Joe is one of those football evangelists, preaching positivity and self belief but experience has taught him that the goods have got to be produced on the day: “They’re brilliant lads but we were here this time last year and we still have nothing to show for it and even this evening, we have nothing to show for it. 

“We have to go back to the drawing board and try to get ready for Melvin Gaels because I can tell you it is going to be a helter skelter of a game - we cannot let them run at us and do to us what they did the last day or they’ll win the County Final. We’ve been in six finals in seven or eight years so we’re good at getting to finals, now it is about getting over the line now.”

For the second year in a row, Annaduff got the better of Allen Gaels and it is clear Joe has the height of respect for the Drumshanbo men: “Allen Gaels, this is their second year in a row playing us and the second year in a row we’ve turned them over and they have had a tough year, at the start of the year, it is hard for them.

“Where we are and what we’re doing, I’m really happy with but we have to move on and Melvin Gaels are going to be a completely different animal. Allen Gaels want to beat you playing football and I love that about teams. We were in the shield earlier this year playing Carrick and Ballinamore, unreal games because they wanted to beat us, it opens a game up.”

In fact, Joe admits that Annaduff have struggled against teams with strong defensive alignments although he see positives in his players’ ability to come through tight games: “We had to go to the well against Ballinaglera, we had to go to the well in the last ten minutes against Allen Gaels, we shouldn’t have had to but we did and that is there with them. 

“If we can turn that into a positive thing going forward, we’ll be there or thereabouts but we’re under no illusions of what we will face on Sunday. Unless we up it again, we will not beat Melvin Gaels. We struggle with structured teams - we struggled with Ballinaglera, we struggled with Kiltubrid earlier in the championship and we will struggle next Sunday.

“We’re hoping that the bit of quality that we have, the bit of workrate that we have will get us  across the line. But we saw that on the field last year against Allen Gaels and we saw where that ended up.”

That quality shone through against Allen Gaels and Joe was thrilled how Annaduff ground out a tough game against Allen Gaels: “4-10 to 18 points is a great advertisement for football - I guarantee you there is nobody in the stands going home disappointed, there was a good standard. 

“I know Darren (Cox) is exquisite in what he does but we’ve some really good players out there. I thought Niall Quigley made a difference and even Liam Taylor catching that ball in the middle of the field. We probably left a few scores behind us as well but happy, really, really happy.

Late goal seals Melvin Gaels place in Final

MELVIN GAELS 1-6 KILTUBRID 0-6

“We weren’t bringing subs on to try and hold on, we were trying to go further and further ahead because that is our make-up. We want to try and outscore teams rather than them beating us on a seven-six game. The players that we have are flamboyant and they love playing football.”

What pleased Joe most was a return to an old Annaduff quality of grinding out games: “We’re getting good at grinding in games, we don’t make life easy for ourselves but historically, Annaduff never made life easy for ourselves. Talk about guts and determination, want and desire, really really good. We went after that game from the very start, it was something we targeted but now it is out of the pot and into the frying pan, a Melvin Gaels team coming up to see us who gave us a schooling five weeks ago.”