St Catherine’s brace for top of the table clash with reigning champs Fanad United

Premier Division leaders St Catherine's go to Traigh-a-Loch on Sunday with champions Fanad United hoping to dent their hopes of lifting back-to-back titles.

Despite being one point ahead of Fanad - it’s fair to say the Killybegs club are still second favourites, for the moment, in this two-horse race.

United currently sit on 30 points with 12 games played, while their south Donegal rivals are locked on 31 points but with two more matches played.

For St Catherine’s, they arrive at another watershed junction at the weekend. This top of the table clash has become something of a poster rivalry over the past few years.

Both teams were promoted together to the Premier Division two seasons ago, with Fanad United winning the First Division by eight points.

Yet despite their edgy battles, in their five league meetings over the last three seasons since Fanad left the Ulster Senior League, St Catherine’s have yet to record a win over Fanad, with a 2-2 draw in 2021 being their only share of the spoils.

Even with the wounds of defeat painfully raw from their defeat last October to Fanad United, St Catherine’s manager Shaun Kelly insists their only focus is on Sunday, with past defeats left firmly at the door.

“Our focus is trying to win all the matches that we’re in, but we know this is a huge match for both Fanad United and ourselves,” the former League of Ireland star said. 

“There’s never much between the two teams and even if we win that match, it’s still in Fanad’s hands regardless.

“Fanad United know this will be a massive step for them if they can get a win against us, nobody has to tell them that.

“Our only loss in the league to date was against Fanad back at the start of the year. I think they’re the best team in the league this year. We know what we’re going to get against them but if we turn up and perform, we’re confident we can get a result.”

The Emerald Park outfit has had their struggles over the past decade. A Premier Division win in 2014/15 was followed up by relegation just two years later.

A return to the top flight the following season was only a mere bump of success, with the club falling back down the tiers in 2018, where they would stay until they got promoted in 2022.

“The big thing for myself and Christopher Murrin when we took over the team three seasons ago, was getting a reserve team up and running to get us back competing. There was too big of a gap between 16-year-olds and senior players, and we found there was a drop off there,” said Kelly.

“So, getting that in order was massive for us. I suppose what has helped us this season to be so high in the league is that we have a fantastic group of players. They’re eager to learn, they’re eager to play and we can’t fault them.”

Travel north of the county and you get a sense of what to really expect for this weekend’s clash. Star player Declan McGarvey knows his club’s record in this fixture, but he admits his team are taking nothing for granted.

“It’s great to see us at this stage of the league and we’ve only lost two games out of 12. We beat St Catherine’s earlier in the season, 2-1. It was a very close game and I think they were very unlucky not get a draw that day, even when they went down to 10 men, they put us under serious pressure. So, we’ll be expecting a tight game this Sunday.

“I know we’ve had some tough battles with St Catherine’s over the last few years. They’re a team that really came out of nowhere and started to dominate Donegal football, especially when they got promoted the same year as us in 2022.

“I think when you go through their team, they have a lot of quality and a lot of very skillful and knowledgeable players all over the field.”

And like St Catherine’s, the past number of years has been kind to Fanad United, who have also seen something of a revival in the club, going all the way to win the top prize last year.

“Since we got promoted two seasons ago, we’ve been really building a top side,” said McGarvey. “We’ve been carried by serious momentum. As you know, it’s far easier when you’re winning games and competing for titles.

“We have an average of 25 or 30 players at training every night, whereas years ago in the Ulster Senior league when things weren’t going great, we might have had only five at training.”

And looking towards Sunday’s battle?

“People are looking at this match on Sunday and saying it’s a game we just don’t need to lose. I’ve been hearing, ‘If you get a draw, it’ll be fine’. I don’t think anyone in the club is looking at it that way. We’re going out there and looking for three points.

“Since last week, all we’ve been speaking about is three points. It’s in our hands, we know we’re good at home, it’s up to us now to set the tempo.”