Two years ago, Ederney were celebrating after clinching the senior championship, but their hopes of lifting the 2022 crown have been hit by injuries and unavailability.
Manager Michael Cassidy has had to juggle his squad to an extent as the season has progressed.
Four wins and five defeats saw St Joseph’s finish sixth in Division 1; a decent if unspectacular campaign.
“Mark McCauley has left for Australia and Sean Cassidy has been out injured all year. They are major losses.
“Conor McGee has also been out injured recently. We’ve had a bad run of injuries with players, but that’s no excuse,” Cassidy said.
“Niall and Ryan Maguire and Eoghan Donnelly have come into the team and have done very well, so that’s been a plus.”
Ederney’s league form has been inconsistent though, and more matches would have been won if they’d seen the job out to the final whistle.
“There were a few games that we let slip and we have only ourselves to blame for losing them. We’d enough chances in the Belleek game to win it and, in others, we were ahead and couldn’t hold on to the lead,” Cassidy said.
“Bad decisions at crucial times in the games cost us, but we blooded some young players and have men now that can come in and do a job.”
Cassidy is now preparing for a campaign that is sure to test the resolve and fitness of his squad.
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