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9th November 2022
03:01pm GMT

John McEntee on the line during Clontibret v Crossmaglen. Sportsfile.
"It's complex because he has sons involved," McEntee adds.
"There's one aspect playing against your own club and then another against your family.
"Johnston is obviously a dyed in the wool Kilcoo man and he's spent his life developing his club, and developing his sons to win and achieve. They have achieved though. They were the best team in Ireland last year, an incredible side.
"So does he think that his influence on this game would have an impact on Kilcoo getting beaten in this game, or does he not want to face the emotional aspect of it. Is there something in Kilcoo that Ballybay don't already know about? I would probably say not.
"Did my experience of Cross impact on the result in 2019? In actual fact, I think it comes down to do your players play well enough and do they follow the plan to the best of their ability?"
Clontibret defeated Cross by a single point in that 2019 clash and McEntee says that the toughest part of it all was the aftermath of the game, despite the fact that nobody in Crossmaglen had animosity towards him for his decision.
"The toughest part for me was after the game. Going down to meet the Cross players.
"I told them it was nothing personal, I was doing my job on the sideline in the same way they were doing theirs' on the field. I never felt that I let them down or my family down.
"I just told them I didn't want to be in this position, I'd never thought about it this far. But I wanted to do them proud by doing my job as good as I could, and they understood that too.
Meanwhile, Gaoth Dobhair duo Eamon McGee and Kevin Cassidy have backed Johnston's decision to step aside. Plenty others have criticised it. The debate rumbles on.
https://twitter.com/EamonMcGee/status/1590114470818648064
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