David Dorrian and Ernesiders determined not to ‘wander’ off the scene again 

Erne Wanderers midfielder David Dorrian says it is great to see the club back playing senior football.

After a five-year absence, the Ballyshannon outfit have returned to the Donegal League with the side participating in a new Saturday League Division 3 alongside teams such as Letterkenny Rovers, Drumkeen United, Fanad United, Lagan Harps, Gweedore United and Bonagee United.

The Lakesiders have made a superb start to the new season with four wins recorded from four following their recent 3-1 victory over Fanad United. 

They are currently locked on 12 points apiece with the other pace-setters Letterkenny Rovers at the top of the table. 

Wanderers’ next outing on Saturday week, as fate would have it, is an away clash with Rovers where something will have to give. But right now, Dorrian says it’s still very much about appreciating just being back involved at this level. 

“It’s fantastic to see Erne Wanderers back in senior football,” he said. “There’s a lot of new young lads here and they're mad for a couple of games. 

“There are also a few old fellas like myself that were deciding whether we should come back or not but we’re glad now that we did make the decision. 

“We’ll keep it going and hopefully it goes well for the year and we’ll see how things work out.”

Dorrian was part of the last Erne Wanderers team to play in the Donegal League five seasons ago. He admits he believed his playing days were over but with Wanderers rising once more he’s glad he decided to come back on board. 

“I was a happily retired man”, Dorrian joked. “A few of them talked me around and so I decided I would come back out, give it one more year and see how things go and that’s all you can do.”

Erne Wanderers had a healthy squad of 17 players available for their use in last Saturday’s encounter with Fanad. With the likes of Aodh Ruadh making their SFC exit at the weekend, there might well be some more big options going forward. 

“There’s plenty of interest, yeah, between Bundoran, Ballyshannon and even the Cliffoney area you have a few good lads about. When we have a full team we’ll give it a good rattle for the year hopefully. 

“We’re absolutely delighted now with the four wins because you know we haven’t had a full team out yet with the boys who were playing championship football with Aodh Ruadh. So hopefully now we’ll get a full team out and we will see how we are going then.” 

The big aim, to get a Ballyshannon team back in the league, has already been achieved. Now, they want to be consistent, win games and, most importantly, stick around. But given their start, Dorrian says there is no reason why they can’t harbour the ultimate ambition. 

“Our aim is to win the league”.