Newbridge stalwart Declan McKeever says the Derry champions will be wary of their Antrim counterparts Dunloy going into Saturday evening’s Ulster club senior football championship opener.

The Sean O'Learys retained the John McLaughlin Cup thanks to a 1-17 to 1-15 win against Magherafelt last Sunday week and now get set to take on Dunloy in the northern province’s preliminary round in two days’ time.

Speaking to BelfastLive.co.uk ahead of the showdown in Owenbeg (throw-in 6pm), McKeever says Newbridge, who celebrate their 100th anniversary as a club this year, are very familiar with this weekend’s opponents.

“Yeah, we’ve watched them. Obviously, we are very close to Cargin and we know them very well,” he stated.

“To be honest, it was no shock to see Dunloy win as they’ve been knocking on the door for the last two or three years and they’ve got really good youth teams coming through and, obviously, they’ve a great hurling team too.

“They have experience in Ulster with the hurling too so we’ll be very wary of that.

“In the Cargin game, you could see the youth and the pace they have. We know how quickly they can attack and get up and down the field. Going into the match, I’d say Newbridge wouldn’t be the favourites so it’s a good place for us.”

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