Rathmullan Celtic looking to lift spirits as they chase first points of the season

It has been a tough season for Rathmullan Celtic. Sitting at the foot of the Donegal Premier Division with no points to their name, the reality of a relegation battle has well and truly set in.   

But despite the difficulties, player-manager Eoin Sheridan is not giving up hope just yet.  

It’s been just over a month since their last league match when they suffered a 7-0 defeat to Kilmacrennan Celtic, their only league match in 2025 so far. In fact, they’ve only faced three matches in the past eight weeks, and while results have not gone their way, they’re hoping the tides will start to change for them.  

“It will be a struggle now to stay in the league as we come into the latter stages of the season because we’ve been struggling for numbers all year,” Sheridan admits.   

READ NEXT: Cullen praises the hunger of his side who take top honours at Sports Star awards

“But at the same time, we’ve had a nice break over Christmas and with the last few weeks off, we’ve got a few new faces in who we are hoping will help us out and lift the spirits around the place.”  

After a frustrating first half of the season, Sheridan’s focus is now on making the team more competitive and, with that, hopefully picking up some much-needed points.  

“Obviously, what we want is to try and be more competitive in these matches and that in turn might get us a few points on the table, so we’ll just have to see what happens.”  

The reality, though, is that this season has been played with one hand tied behind their backs.   

Numbers have been a problem all year. Players missing for work, family, or other commitments. Training sessions have been short of bodies. Morale sinks lower with each bruising defeat.  

“It’s just been one of those seasons where we can’t get boys out to play or train with us. Lads can be unavailable due to different things like work and family, and a few other things.  

“It can be really hard to try and get lads committed when we are going so poor at the minute, but hopefully, we’ll get the spirits boosted with a few new faces coming out to play.”  

What has compounded the struggle is the rise in standards. Rathmullan have been in dogfights before, but in past seasons, they might have scraped points here and there. This year, the margins have been wider, the punishment more severe.  

“The standard of the league has definitely gone up a good bit this season and we’ve found that ourselves in a number of games,” Sheridan said.  

“In the past, we might’ve got away with winning points here and there in some matches, but that’s not the case this season.”  

And yet, there is something still to cling to. The fixture list throws them one last lifeline — games against sides also struggling for air. The problem? They’re all away from home.  

“We get to play a lot of the teams who are also around the bottom of the league again, albeit those games are away from home.   

“We are going to be optimistic and see if we can finally get a few points on the table. The ambition now is to try and get a few wins and get into the play-off position, which is a big possibility.  

“Yes, we have low numbers, but we have a good number of local boys back too who weren’t with us for a while.   

“So, there is more of a local feel to the side this season, which is nice, and although this is a bad season, hopefully in the long term, having a lot of local boys back playing will stand us in good stead.”  

Sheridan is thinking beyond survival. He speaks of a club working at underage level, putting the pieces together so that in years to come, Rathmullan won’t just be scrambling for bodies, but growing their own.  

“There are a lot of people working hard at underage level as well to try and get a natural structure in place from underage to senior level so there is a progression. Hopefully, that’ll be a good thing in the future.”  

Right now, the future can wait. The here and now is a team still chasing its first points of the season.