Ulster is a bonus, it's Intermediate football we want says Craigbane captain

St. Joseph’s will take on Cavan champions Drumlane on the weekend of October 29th/30th and Rainey, who was part of Craigbane’s Ulster Intermediate Club success of 2011, says Sunday’s championship victory over Ballerin is only a first step toward taking the club back to where it belongs.

“Listen, anything that comes after this is a bonus,” explained the Craigbane stalwart, “We play the winners of Cavan so we’ll match up and we’ll give it a go. Eleven years ago we didn’t have a bad run but it’s about getting intermediate football, playing a higher standard. I don’t know what the ceiling is but there are some super young players in there.”

“When you’re young you think championships come round every year but they don’t. They just don’t, so I’m going to really enjoy this one. And I plan on playing a few more years. If you’re fit and you’re feeling good you should just keep it going and I want to be there to guide this young team forward and hopefully in Intermediate football.

“Listen, I don’t want to bang on about the ins and outs of league football in Derry but we are league and championship double winners. We’re unbeaten all year and we’ll be knocking on that door and saying we want Intermediate football.”

Despite already having the Junior League safely tucked away in the

Páirc Gheárod Uí Chrosaín trophy cabinet, Rainey says lifting the Joe Brolly Cup was always their No. 1 priority.

“It’s been our goal all year,” revealed the Craigbane captain, “We won the league but the focus has always been the Championship. Way back in the hall in January, when we all sat down, we said we wanted to win the championship.

“We tailored our training. The boys dug in. We all put the shoulder to the wheel and got what we deserved. We put everything into it this year, and I’m delighted just to get over the line in the end.

“We were always confident. With the firepower we have up front we know we can hurt teams. It was just a case of being up against the strong breeze and keeping Ballerin out and I think we did alright with that.”

A fresh faced young star the last time Craigbane sampled Championship glory in 2011, Rainey is now one of the veterans of a relatively young team but he has now plans to hang up the boots just yet!

“Experience is a kind word,” he laughs, when quizzed on his future plans, “Yes, we’ve a great blend and I alluded to it in the speech there. I don’t know what the ceiling is for these boys.

“It’s a really young team bar myself and a couple of others who have tried to guide the ship and move it in the right direction. There’s a few men there from when we last won a championship in 2011, and you need that to win these tough games. We let the younger boys know what work needs to be done, what sacrifices need to be made. And in fairness to the boys they done it.”