Commitment proves key as Donegal Town FC return to Premier Division

The Brian McCormick Sports Premier Division will welcome back Donegal Town next season after a three-year absence from the top flight. 

Having missed out on promotion last season, first via the automatic spots and then the playoff against Gweedore Celtic, another long campaign was always going to be a difficult task, especially with such a competitive league.

Promotion to the top tier of the Donegal League was secured on the final day after a 3-1 win against Ballybofey United. 

With the last set of fixtures all happening concurrently, three sides yearned for the top two places in the league table, with Glenea United and Donegal Town having the advantage over Lagan Harps in terms of points prior to kick-off and ultimately after full-time too. 

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Glenea won 2-1 at McGettigan Park against Castlefin Celtic to take the silverware and Lagan confirmed third place with a runaway 9-0 victory against Gweedore United, which left Donegal Town in second with a direct path secured to the Premier Division.

Donegal Town FC coach Joe Rodden -  a native of Meenlaragh and formerly of Glenea - shared his thoughts shortly after the final whistle. 

“I'm absolutely delighted for the boys,” he started.  “They've put in a massive amount of work since July, it's been a long season. It's great for the club; it's massive, it is bittersweet in a sense, but the ambition was always to get promotion into the Premier. 

“We lost the play-off last year, and it took a lot to bounce back from that. Credit goes to the boys; they've given us a massive commitment this year. Training twice a week, giving up their Sundays, and we're absolutely delighted for the committee too. 

“Massive effort with underage, and underage coaches. Young Ryan Mahon on the pitch at only 17 years old. I'm sure the lads will go out for a few pints tonight, and then the hard work will begin again soon.”

The gap at the top of the table prior to kick-off left no room for error. Glenea United were top on 37 points, Donegal Town had 36, and another point behind was Lagan Harps. A couple more sides weren't far behind that, and Rodden knew that on another day, any one of the three could have ended up with the title in their grasp.

“We were probably helped a bit by Ballybofey drawing last week as that put them out of contention,” he started.

“The three sides today, any one of them could have won the league. Glenea United deserved to win the league, and they lost only twice all season. We ran them close and Lagan Harps made a late surge too, and that shows how competitive it is.

“You lose a couple and you can be in a dogfight too, so we're happy at the end of the day that we've achieved our aim.”

Goals from Declan Duignan and Ronan McHugh gave Donegal Town a two-goal cushion going into the break, but an early own goal may have unsettled a few nerves in the camp. Ballybofey United briefly knocked on the door in search of an equaliser, but the third goal forced the visitors back, with McHugh on the mark again.

“Credit to Ballybofey, they're a good side and they'll always give you a good game,” Rodden said. “We didn't play at our best in the first half, but we got the goals at the right time. We said at half time that the first 15 to 20 minutes are vital. Just five minutes into the second half, Ballybofey got that goal, and you're under pressure then.  It's squeaky-bum time then as they would say, and the boys dug in. Ronan had an opportunity, then eventually got the third and that settled the nerves and all was good after that.”