Ulster Final not the height of Steelstown ambition, says manager McGrath

McGrath has followed up the city club’s first championship title by guiding the Ballyarnett men to an inaugural Ulster final appearance against Moortown on January 9th but regardless of the result against the Tyrone champions, the Brian Ogs boss says the final will not be the end of the story for a team brimming with potential.

“Being in the final means a huge deal to us,” explained McGrath, “The buzz about the place in recent weeks has been superb.

“We’re a young club but we have big ambitions and big plans to go as far as we can. Is it something we want to end on – an Ulster title or a runners-up medal? Absolutely not. The group believe in themselves.

“We’ve said it before that we’re not sure when we’ll ever be back here. It could be the year after next, it might be 10 years down the line or it might never happen again. When you’re in it, you go for it and you do everything you can to get to the other side of it.”

Saturday’s impressive 5-13 to 0-10 victory over Butlersbridge brought the Brian Ogs’ tally to 9-39 in three Ulster Championship ties but McGrath says he’s expecting the final to be his side’s biggest test yet.

“I’m not too sure that Michael Hassan at Moortown would worry about our forward line because they have a very good defence,” added McGrath, “For us, that will be something different for us to plan for and to try and pick our way through but finals are finals. We racked up big scores in the Derry championship but when push came to shove it was 0-9 to 0-8 in the Intermediate final. No matter what we scored today or in the past, the final will be tight no matter what so we have to prepare and be ready for that.”