Junior Championship favourites Newtownbutler will be hoping to secure their place in the semi-final of the competition when they take on Coa on Saturday evening in Maguiresbridge.

The First Fermanaghs have a solid Division Two campaign behind them and they will be looking now to push on having lost in the Junior final last year.

Manager Darren Chapman though is looking no further ahead than the meeting with the O’Dwyers this weekend.

“We are going to have to show up on Saturday if we are to win,” he said. “It is all about taking it one game at a time and the full focus is on Coa. If we perform we will have a great chance but we have to perform.”

Coa are always a threat in Championship football and Chapman expects a big test on Saturday.

“Coa are a side who play their best football in the championship every year and we know it will be tough. They will be physical and will make it difficult and we will have to match them physically and we will look to play with our best foot forward,” added Chapman.

Newtown have a lot of quality young players coming through at the minute in the likes Diarmuid King, Sean Conlon and Conor Courtney and they are backed up by experienced hands in Ryan Carson, James Connolly and James Maguire.

Coa’s Ryan Hanna therefore knows the task that faces them.

“They were beaten in the final last year and the young players that they were blooding last year have now another year under their belt. They are rightly the favourites for the competition and there is no doubt that it is the toughest game we could have got,” said Hanna.

However, he stresses that Coa will be travelling to Maguiresbridge targeting an upset.

“It is championship football and it is all on the day. We would never traditionally be a league club, for us it is about championship and it is about trying to click for Saturday night and be as prepared as we can be,” he added.

With the backdoor system in place in the Junior Championship, Hanna knows that a loss on Saturday is not the end for them but he feels that going through the front door is the best way to get to the final.

“If at all possible you want to get to the final by winning two games, it is the quickest route, but we have used the backdoor route before to get the final and it is good to have that safety net. We will be going looking for the win though on Saturday,” said Hanna.

Coa will be looking for big performances from the likes of Hanna, Caoilte Farry, Darren McQuade and Ben Thompson if they are to overcome Newtown and progress to the last four.