St Michael's head into the unknown

WITH their senior status secured for the first time in over a decade and a half, the footballers of St. Michael’s are set to enjoy a trip into the unknown when they travel to Cloone, Co. Leitrim, to take on local champions Aughnasheelin in the Connacht Intermediate semi-final on Sunday (2.30PM).The city club’s victory over Glenamaddy earlier this month has seen St. Michael’s return to senior football for the first time in 17 years, but they have put thoughts of derby games against Salthill-Knocknacarra aside for the time being as they prepare for the club’s first competitive fixture outside the county.The men from the west side are still battling on two fronts, as they are still embroiled in a competitive League campaign while team manager Pat Regan says they are determined to go as far as they can in the provincial championship, now that the celebrations are out of the way.They had to battle hard to account for Glenamaddy by 0-11 to 0-10 in a thrilling Intermediate final at Tuam Stadium and could yet do the double, as they are going well in the League following their 2-8 to 1-9 win over Carna-Caiseal on Bank Holiday Monday. “We had a tough match on Monday, which has been a great help to our preparations, as Carna are still going for promotion. We had a few nights of celebrations, some fantastic nights, after beating Glenamaddy but now we’re determined to go as far as we can and we’re going to take each match as it comes,” said Regan yesterday.“It would be nice to see how far we can go in Connacht and we’re looking forward to the trip up to Leitrim on Sunday. I believe that Aughnasheelin are a lot like us, in that they’ve a lot of young lads on their team.” The Galway champions...