Gerard McGranaghan aiming to restore Kilmacreenan's winning ways

When Gerard McGranaghan returned as Kilmacrennan manager last June, he set out with the ambition of returning the club to the top end of the Premier Division table where they can once again challenge for league titles.  

Having stepped away at the end of the 2022/’23 year, the Lurgy side finished fifth last season on 28 points having won eight out of 18 games in the Premier Division.  

With an underwhelming season now in the periphery, McGranaghan admitted that he felt it his duty to return as the man in charge of Kilmacrennan having previously managed them for four seasons, having won a Premier Division title in 2022 as well as the club's first Brian McCormack Cup in 2023 during that period as a player/manager.  

So far, this year, they have eliminated the negative vibe that has cursed them for so long last year and have since hit the ground running with three wins from three in the Premier Division.  

“I decided to come back this season, and with that, we added a few new players to the squad which adds competition, we had a good pre-season, we worked on our fitness a bit more, and we started well, which is all great,” McGranaghan told Donegal Live.  

So, what were his reasons for stepping away in 2023, and more so his decision to come back after a year of absence?  

“I suppose I managed the team for four years before I decided to step away in 2023. I felt the fact that we won a league in 2022 that we had Kilmacrennan back to where they belong, which is at the top challenging for trophies,” he said.  

“Once I felt that we got the team to where we wanted them to be, I thought it was the right time to take a break from it all. As you know four years is a long time to be managing but I’m happy to be back involved now.  

“Last season I was going to go away and play somewhere else but I decided to stay in the club as a player, but everything seemed to go wrong last year, from pre-season right through to the end.  

“It wasn’t working out. Players weren’t buying into what was going on, and as the season progressed, I ended up talking to some of the players who wanted me to come back in as manager. That’s what happened and we all bought into it since then.  

“Last year, I just felt that training wasn’t good enough and the players weren’t there, and when that happens, it can be hard for anyone to stamp their authority on the team. That was the issue from day one.  

“I felt the hard work that I did for the previous four years, it was all falling away, and I didn’t want to let it slip, so I needed to go back to try and get the team back to where we belong and that’s near the top.”  

Although the season has been smooth sailing for McGranaghan’s side so far, despite a 3-0 defeat to Cockhill Celtic in the FAI Junior Cup last week, the Kilmacrennan manager is aware that the competition in the league has increased with the likes of Bonagee and Letterkenny Rovers adding further challenges to title hopes.  

And it’ll be this weekend where Kilmacrennan face their first hurdle when they face off against Bonagee United this Sunday in Letterkenny, in what is a first versus second clash at the top of the table, with Bonagee sitting at the top on 10 points with four games played, with McGranaghan’s side just behind them on nine points, but with a game in hand.  

“The likes of Bonagee and Letterkenny Rovers coming into the Premier Division adds a bit of spice to the whole thing,” McGranaghan said. “It allows players to get up for those big games and it creates competition.  

“Every game in this division is going to be tight and that makes it exciting. But we can only focus on ourselves and thankfully we’re doing well so far this year, we’ve won our first three league games and hopefully, we can keep that going.”  

And what about his side’s ambitions for the season?  

“The league is always the target for us,” he said. “Now, of course, you want to do well in all the competitions but the main priority is the league.   

“If we can go one better in the cup competitions, that’s great, but as I said, it’s the league that we’ll be looking at.”