'There's always pressure to win!'

Newbridge joint manager Gary Hetherington was content how his side dug a win out of Saturday’s championship clash with Steelstown.

It guarantees the ‘Bridge top spot ahead of the quarter-finals but he insists they will go down the same route of preparation ahead of the clash with Ballinascreen this weekend, a game ‘Screen need to win to give them an outside chance of making the quarter-finals.

“We've trained hard and we'll continue to train hard this week,” said Hetherington, who manages the team with Kevin Brady.

“We’ll recover ahead of Ballinascreen. We’ll give them the credit they deserve. We’ll do our homework on them and if we get a victory, brilliant, but, if we lose, it’ll not be the end of the world.”

Newbridge will be without Mark McGrogan who was shown a straight red card late in Saturday’s game. Steelstown Ryan Devine was also shown a second yellow before being dismissed as part of the same incident.

Goalkeeper Nathan Rocks is expected to miss out after an injury picked up in their win over Magherafelt. Paddy McMullan, who was unavailable to due to a personal commitment, will be back while Mark Doherty and Ciaran Brooks should be available.

“Nathan's probably the longest one…probably two to three weeks,” Hetherington said of their four changes ahead of the Steelstown game. “He (Rocks) could make the quarter-final but the rest should be back in for next week.”

Newbridge controlled the game early on and again took over in the second half before Ben McCarron helped pull Steelstown back into the game. In windy conditions, Newbridge pushed on with two late scores to seal victory.

“We’re obviously delighted,” Hetherington said about their fourth successive win to top the group, “but that's not the main aim. We are just delighted to get over that game today (Saturday) and win. Steelstown are an excellent team, a hungry team and a tough team to play against.

“They get everybody behind the ball. They're very good at keeping the ball. We snatched at a few chances in the first half and maybe panicked.

“In the second half, we were excellent when we had players like Callum and Conleth (McGrogan) constantly running at them.  Conleth was superb in the second half.  All in all, we're more than happy with where we're at.”

There was one spell, during the final quarter, when Steelstown hemmed Newbridge in on their own kick-out before Conor McGrogan peeled wide to win the next one to give his goalkeeper James Gribbin an out ball. It was a key moment when Newbridge needed a release in search of their extra scores to see out the game.

“There's always pressure to win, especially at home,” Hetherington. “In those big moments, you need the big players and your leaders to step up. Conor is a big leader in our defence and ‘CD’ (Conor Doherty) in midfield…they stepped up.

“’CD’ got us out of defence there one time with a surging run. That's what you're building for and you train for in those situations. These boys can dig you out of a hole when you are in it and that’s what we are going to need come quarter-final day, whoever we face.”