Dunkineely Celtic determined to drag themselves out of Donegal League doldrums

Dunkineely Celtic will kick off the new Donegal League season with the single aim of winning. 

And that aim isn’t to win the Donegal Physiotherapy Division 2 title or gain promotion. 

For a club that dominated the Premier Division at one stage, in-and-around the turn of the millennium, claiming a trio of back-to-back titles in ‘98/’99 and 2000, the initial goal this term is to simply win a game of football. 

Donegal League sides in the south and south west of the county have found the going tough in recent times but Dunkineely’s woes are a sort of concentrated mixture of anything and everything. 

Emigration and the perennial GAA tug-of-war have taken a real toll at Darney Park but player/boss Adrian Nesbitt isn’t complaining, saying the show simply must go on. 

“Emigration down through the years has always been an issue but without a doubt there are more leaving now than ever,” he explained. 

“At the same time, I genuinely don’t know if young people have the same interest in football. 20 or 30 years ago it was all you might have had to look forward to at the weekend. 

“Now, young people have so much going on in their lives. I think there is more pressure than ever on young people to work at weekends as the expense of moving onto third-level education or just paying for college is higher than ever. 

“The GAA thing, for all the clubs in the west of the county, there was always an overlap but you’d step over from one to the other handy enough. 

“The GAA season goes on longer now, you could say it’s a 12-month thing, and championship especially lasts longer. So there are a lot of things there that impact it. 

“Like, the GAA is finding it hard too and you see lots of clubs not being able to field reserve teams. We’ll still have good numbers signed up but keeping lads about and getting them out on a Sunday are two very different things. 

“But we’ve tried to get some experience back in this year and with that in the dressing room, the hope is it’ll keep lads interested and on board". 

Dunkineely - who last lifted the Premier Division title in 2007/08 - get the 2024/25 season underway this Sunday when they host Donegal Town in the Brian McCormick Cup. 

But it’s the league that Nesbitt says the full focus is really on. Last term, in the Donegal League’s third tier, Dunkineely failed to win a single game out of 18. 

Indeed, in the last three seasons their record reads played 52, won three with the side picking up six points in 21/22 and just three in 20/21. 

“Off the top of my head I wouldn’t be able to tell you when we last won a game," admits Nesbitt. "But you can’t throw in the towel. 

“We’ve the likes of Aaron Byrne, Anthony Fisher and Paul McFadden, experienced lads, on board. Paddy Gallagher from Ardara is up again - a very good goalkeeper. But just like the Naomh Ultan lads, we’ll be without him until after the GAA is over. 

“We’ve a good few young lads signed up but, like I say, the aim has to be to keep them interested. So the hope is that blend of experience will make it enjoyable but also make us competitive”.