Rangers looking to recover from tricky end to last season
Owen McNamara was a key player for Conn Rangers last year. Picture: Michael Donnelly
Conn Rangers surprised a lot of people with their strong performances in their return to the Super League last season. It was not simply the case of beating the clubs around them in the table, as is often the case with bottom half teams; some of the trophies mounting their wall last season included then champions Ballyheane and Westport United.
They will of course, avert their eyes from and avoid too much mention of the back half of the season in which they lost seven of their last nine games, scored 11 goals and conceded 21. It was not fully representative of the great season they had overall. Key players like PJ Gilmartin, Sean Holmes and Owen McNamara stepped up to the plate.
In the offseason, they have added further quality. Two-time Moclair Cup winner David McHale is crossing codes to join them and they have also added Cian McHale from neighbours Straide & Foxford United. Eoin Prendergast is back at the club and will provide firepower up front.
Conn Rangers head coach Mark Togher is keen for his side to make an improvement after a difficult end to the last campaign, .
Mark and manager Joe Faughnan brought Conn Rangers to a sixth-place finish in their first Super League season since 2016 but endured a tough back half of the season, losing seven of their last nine games.
“It was a tale of two halves I suppose” said Mark. “We started very strong and we were very happy with how the first eight or nine games went but we tailed off from there.”
“There are some serious squads in the Super League and it was a massive learning curve for us as management and also for the players. We’ll look to build on what we learned.”
Their respectable mid-table finish is a foundation that Conn Rangers can build upon for the season to come, says Togher.
“We always say our ambition is to win the next game and that is essentially what our approach is going to be,” “Now it’s all eyes on our first game of the season.”
Conn’s first opponent is Ballyheane. Rangers rocked Mayo Football and turned everybody’s heads when they went away to the then reigning champions in the second week of the season and beat them 4-1 with goals from Liam Durkan (x2), PJ Gilmartin and Colm Rutledge. The second time around, at their home ground at Mount Falcon, Ballyheane beat them 5-3.
“It is a tough slog any time we play Ballyheane,” said Mark.
“They are a serious outfit. You don’t win the Super League twice in a row unless you’re a serious outfit.”
“We had mixed fortunes against them last year and I’ll expect another serious battle again this year.” “We’re going to take each game as it comes. Ballyheane is next and we’re going to try our best to win that. Then it is Crossmolina after that and we’ll try to win that as well. It’ll be one week at a time as far as we’re concerned.”
Conn Rangers had a prolific off-season in terms of boosting the numbers in the squad. Two-time Moclair Cup winning captain with neighbouring GAA club Knockmore David McHale is among the additions. Cian McHale has signed from Straide & Foxford United, a talented young player and 2019’s top goalscorer Eoin Prendergast returns to the club after stepping away for a few years.
“The boys are going well. It has been a right good pre-season so far. Apart from a couple of niggles, we expect any injuries to be cleared up in a couple of weeks.”
“The additions give us a bit more depth. They’re all good lads and they’re all local players, Conn lads coming back to play for the club so nothing majorly exciting in terms of some outsiders coming in.”
“They’ve added a certain amount of quality and depth to our squad and we’re delighted to have them.”
