Annaduff have won nothing yet stresses manager Joe Cox

Their performance in obliterating the challenge of Allen Gaels in the semi-final grabbed the attention of many neutrals but ahead of Sunday’s Smith Monumentals Intermediate Championship Final, Joe Cox is laying down the law to his Annaduff players that the job is only half done.

Speaking after their semi-final victory, Joe was delighted but was definitely not getting carried away by any manner of means: “We are delighted - today was our job, we focused so much on play by play and what we had to do. We focus on our performance - any of the boys will tell you, all we ever focus on is what we can do within a game and you could see it out there.”

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The mantra of hard work and honesty is taking hold in the Annaduff club and Joe sees it paying off at all levels: “I thought in the second half we were very good, our workrate, our hard work and our honesty but that is our club mantra - what we want to do in Annaduff all the time. 

“Our club, our U13s, our U15s, U17s, our Juniors - we just look to work harder than anybody else and that is key to what happened out there in the second half against Allen Gaels.”

A new look Annaduff team has broken through this year after losing a lot of experienced players over the last two seasons but Joe doesn’t claim any credit for himself, putting it down to an entire club effort: “If you look at the players, that doesn’t come into it at all - five or six of them are the same. I wasn’t there five or six years ago and we turned over eight or ten players altogether last year and we had to. 

“It just shows you the quality that is there, the quality of work with our underage and what is coming through - you can’t just do what has happened, it comes with years and years of work and it comes from Michael Moyles, we had Derek there, Karl Foley.”

Brilliant Annaduff blow Allen Gaels away with power packed second half

ANNADUFF 3-13 ALLEN GAELS 2-9

Hard won and sometimes painful experience played its part too: “We were in the semi-final last year, Dromahair beat us by two points and we were very green, I was. We had a different group of players but we’re in the exact same situation, we’ve won nothing yet today. 

“It took everything that has happened to get us to where we are - all that good stuff, all that bad stuff - it has taken everything to get us here today.”

A rising tide lifts all boats they say but there must be a flood in Annaduff with their growing strength in all age groups, something Joe puts down to the good work of coaches all the way through the club: “Our club structures are really good - up in Annaduff there today and the amount of children that are there. 

“Our U17s winning the Division 2 league, competing in Division 1 and not far off a semi-final spot. Our juniors beat Eslin - that Junior team sums up where we are at the minute. But the people that are doing the work, I just didn’t make Daniel Bosquette very good, I just didn’t make Caelan Quigley very good, it has happened for the last ten or 15 years with coaches doing the right thing all the time with them. 

“That is what you saw out there in that second half but there is nothing for us here today, only the win, that is all we could get out of today.”

While Joe prefers to concentrate on his own team and what they can do, he acknowledges Aughnasheelin pose a significant test for his side: “That’s a different kettle of fish altogether. I worked with an awful lot of their younger lads with Leitrim squads over the last ten years, I know them really well - Aaron Hoare would be a good friend of mine, no more than Ciaran Cullen. 

“Ciaran Cullen is a rolls royce of a footballer - you couldn’t but be happy to watch that gasun play football. I won’t be as happy the next day but our job is to get us right - I can’t do anything about Aughnasheelin, we’ll do our job as well as we can and that is all that matters to us. 

“The way our club is structured at the moment is based on what we do, how we achieve what we want to achieve within our own set-up.”

Cox stresses Annaduff have won nothing yet after superb semi-final display

Annaduff’s record at Intermediate level over the last five campaigns is amazing with three final appearances and two more at the semi-final stage. But there is no extra pressure on his players according to Joe ahead of Sunday’s Final: “What I’ve said to them out on the field - we’ve lost two County Finals and two semi-finals, they don’t need anybody to tell them how to get ready. 

“That is experience, it is not a great experience to have but it is experience. It is very important that they understand what has happened has led us to where we are today. The Semi-Final win won’t mean one thing  if I’m sitting here after the final crying the poor mouth!”