Important for Glenfin to retain senior status for 50th year celebrations - Marley

Glenfin were made battle to the final whistle on Sunday evening in Tirconaill Park in the relegation semi-final against St Naul’s but they prevailed by two points to retain their senior championship status for 2025 - which is a landmark year for the club when they will celebrate a special birthday.

“It’s our 50th year next year and we are very proud of our senior status. There is a great tradition of senior football in Glenfin, so it’s good to be going into our 50th year and still be in the senior championship,” said Glenfin full-back Ross Marley.

“It was in the back of our minds we were going to be in this situation so with the result it is nice to keep the club where we feel it should be,” said Marley.

“These relegation semi-finals and finals are never glamorous. It’s all about getting over the line and thankfully we got over the line today. They are never easy games and St Naul’s had our number for most of the game.

“In the first half we had a lot of wides, silly wides, and thankfully we cleaned that up in the second half,” said Marley.

The Glenfin side had a poor start with many wides and there was 21 minutes on the clock before they opened their account.

“Yeah, but I think we then scored seven points in the last nine or ten minutes of the first half. It gave us great confidence going into the second half.

“There was a bit of a breeze there too that we didn’t factor in before the game. It has been the story of the championship, the bad weather and the wind. You have to take all these things into consideration.”

The Gaeltacht Lar side were playing a St Naul’s side that had been ravaged by injury, starting without at least half a dozen regulars but Marley said that Glenfin were never taking that into consideration in their approach.

“No, definitely not. I suppose us and St Naul’s have got to know each other a lot over the last five or six years since I have been playing senior football. I don’t remember beating them or losing to them by three or four points in any game.

“So we know no matter what team St Naul’s put out, they are a very, very proud club and they are proud of their senior status, just like us, so we knew it was going to be a tough game.”

There was also much talk about  Glenfin’s poor record in Tirconaill Park and Marley agreed with that. “We’ve never had much luck on this pitch. It’s a great pitch to play on and great facilities but it wouldn’t be our favourite.”

Ross Marley in full flow on Sunday against St Naul's Picture: Thomas Gallagher

But when their backs were to the wall their two main scorers, Luke McGlynn and Shaun Ward, stood up.

“Some of our younger players are the main players on the team and you can see the training Luke (McGlynn) is getting all year is standing to him. We had great performances all over the pitch, they really dug in and deserved the victory in the end up.”

With a two point lead coming into the closing minutes, there were a couple of nervous moments as St Naul’s lobbed in a few high balls.

“The two point lead is the worst lead you could ever have. We had a free at the end to make it three. Fair play to St Naul’s, they kept coming and coming and we’ll see how it goes now for them in the final.”

Asked if they had played Cloughaneely recently, Marley said:  “We haven’t played them in a few years but I watched their game earlier against Aodh Ruadh. It will be two proud clubs fighting to retain their status and it should be a good game.