They begin their 2022 season with a home clash against South West rivals Ahoghill this afternoon, but Creggan are still hurting from their 2021 exit from the Ulster Club Championship.
Manager Gerard McNulty revealed that a bout of Covid in the squad rocked their preparations for their Ulster Club quarter-final clash with Armagh champions Clann Éireann in Corrigan Park.
Creggan won their first Antrim SFC title since 1954 with a convincing 1-12 to 0-7 win over Aghagallon in the county final and were seven points ahead in the second half of their Ulster Club tie against Clann Éireann before the Armagh champions forced extra-time thanks to a late Tiernan Kelly free.
Read more: Antrim braced for must-win battle with Laois says Saffrons skipper Conor McCann
Daniel Magee’s goal in extra-time settled the contest in favour of the Lurgan side, who won 2-14 to 0-17.
Many observers felt that Clann Éireann won out due to their superior fitness, a notion firmly rejected by the Kickhams boss, who believes his side were good enough to reach a provincial final.
“While it was great to get to Ulster, it was a disappointment,” said McNulty.
“We controlled the game against Clann Éireann and we let them back into it in the second half.
“That was a real sore point for myself. I do think if we’d have gone on to play Derrygonnelly, we could have gone one better and maybe faced Kilcoo in an Ulster final.
“I was quite annoyed with how it ended. We’d a bit of Covid in the camp before the Clann Eireann game and it caught up with us.
“Rather than publicising it at the time, we played on. In the second half and into extra-time, we’d nothing in the tank. A lot of the lads got it before the game and were just about cleared to play in the game.
“One thing about any team I take is that we’re never out of shape. Martin McElkennon does our strength and conditioning so fitness wasn’t an issue. Clann Éireann barely touched the ball in the first half.”
Creggan will also be without the services of their 2021 captain Conor McCann for the foreseeable future after he departed for Australia.
McNulty hopes he will return in time to play some part in their campaign while former county attacker Conor Small is still some way off making his return to action after a cruciate knee ligament injury.
The same injury kept Liam Quinn on the sidelines for the majority of last season, but the former Antrim minor star could be back in training in the coming weeks.
Creggan will also be without a host of county players for the early rounds and McNulty said he’ll use the League to give his players game-time before they set about trying to retain their Championship crown.
“We haven’t done anything too intense and we didn’t do a pre-season to do another pre-season before the Championship in the middle of the year. We’re going to get fit by playing games and that’s how we are looking at it,” added McNulty.
“I want to give a lot of guys game-time as we are without our county players. They may be available for some game-time.
“Some of them are getting good game-time for the county, some are getting bits and pieces. The problem is the guys who aren’t playing much for the county then want game-time for the club, but you’ve got 35 guys training all week.
“It is a juggling act, but it worked well for us last year and we got to look at plenty of players in the League.
“I’m planning to do the same this year and maybe make a few positional changes. As guys get older and more mature, become stronger and you look at different positions for them.”
While McNulty remains in charge of the county champions, several other leading clubs in Antrim have new management teams in place for 2022.
Former county kingpins Cargin, who won the Division One title last term, are now managed by their former coach Ronan Devlin following Damien Cassidy’s departure.
John McKeever, who led Cookstown to two All-Ireland Intermediate titles, is in charge of his native Portglenone along with Tyrone legend Peter Canavan.
Lámh Dhearg have appointed Declan Bunting as Máirtín Lynch’s replacement while St John’s are managed by Aaron Douglas and Pete McKeever.
Last year’s beaten county finalists Aghagallon have appointed Audi Kelly for the forthcoming season with Kevin Murray now with Kelly’s former club after being named as Moy’s manager.
Sean Burns is at the helm at St Gall’s and they travel to St Mary’s for their opening fixture in Division One with St John’s hosting Portglenone at Corrigan Park.
Lámh Dhearg welcome Cargin to Hannahstown while Rossa entertain St Enda’s in what should be another close contest.
Antrim ACL Division One (all games Sunday 2pm)
St Brigid’s v Tír na nÓg
St John’s v Portglenone
Rossa v St Enda’s
Lámh Dhearg v Cargin
Creggan v Ahoghill
Aghagallon v St Gall’s
Read more: Tyrone hurlers must stay grounded ahead of promotion push says Mickey McShane
Read more: Kerr fears Spillane's 'sweeper keeper' remarks could lead to more rule changes
Sign up to our free sports newsletter to get the latest headlines to your inbox.
