'It's been a long 22 months, but we have to look at the bigger picture' - Nesbitt

Adrian Nesbitt was laughing when he picked up the phone on Monday to discuss his side’s most recent league result.  

You’d expect nothing less from the Dunkineely Celtic player-manager, basking in the glow of a moment so rare it demanded calculators, archival records, and no shortage of disbelief. 

Sunday’s 4-1 victory at home to Curragh Athletic didn’t just feel like a win for Dunkineely, it felt like a resurrection.  

It had been 687 days since their last league triumph – a 4-2 win over Whitestrand United in March 2023 in McGarvey Park.  

The previous win before that was earlier that same season in October 2022 when they landed a 3-0 away win against Lifford Celtic, while prior to that, they recorded a 5-1 win away to Deele Harps on December 12, 2021.

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In fact, prior to last Sunday’s win at home, the club would have to go all the way back to October 20, 2019 to when they won their last game at Darney Park with a 2-1 win over Deele Harps.  

In all, that reads that since the turn of the decade, Dunkineely Celtic have recorded just four wins in the Donegal Physiotherapy D2 league. A statistic as stark as it is sobering. 

For a club that once lorded over the Donegal League Premier Division – three successive titles between 1998 and 2000 – these have been years of pain. 

“It was bound to happen eventually,” Nesbitt chuckles, reflecting on Sunday’s performance, one in which he scored all four goals.  

“It’s been 22 long months, but there’s a bigger picture here than just one game. Maybe down the line, things will turn around for us. Hopefully!” 

That picture is crowded with obstacles: emigration, the pull of Gaelic football, and the relentless drain on rural clubs that barely hang on.  

Dunkineely Celtic’s neighbours, Eany Celtic, folded their senior side during the 2017/2018 season after years of struggling to field a team. Dunkineely has flirted with the same fate, and it’s only the grit of people like Nesbitt – now in his 25th season – that keeps the lights on. 

“Between emigration and boys playing GAA almost year-round, it’s hard to get players out,” Nesbitt admits. “We could have 15 lads saying they’re good to go on a Saturday night, but by Sunday morning, you’re down to 10 or 11. 

“I wouldn’t knock the players either. There’s so much more pressure on young people now than there was 15 or 20 years ago – work, family, everything. You just have to get on with it.” 

The prospect of dropping to the Saturday league has been whispered, but Nesbitt dismisses the idea as a shortcut to nowhere. 

“Like we are where we are, people talk about going down to the Saturday division but that’s just as competitive and I don’t think it would make any difference to us as a club.”   

Nesbitt was part of the last Dunkineely side to win the Premier Division, back in 2008. He’s seen the glory days and the darker ones since. But even in this lean era, he refuses to lose sight of what keeps the club alive. 

“It’s all about the players,” he says. “We just hope they can keep it going. I still really enjoy it – though I’d enjoy it more if we had more players coming through.” 

He’s quick to credit those working alongside him, like Malachy Byrne and Phil Nesbitt, and the club’s committee.  

“Without Margaret Duddy, we wouldn’t even have a club. It would’ve been gone long ago. You try your best for people like her, who put so much into this.”