Kilmacrennan Celtic can’t show Letterkenny Rovers too much respect - McGranaghan

Gerard McGranaghan says Kilmacrennan Celtic can’t sit back and allow Lettekenny Rovers to play their way towards the Brian McCormick Cup decider. 

Diamond Park, Ballyare will take centre stage at the weekend with the clash of Donegal Town and Castlefin Celtic in the competition’s other semi-final, getting the afternoon underway (1pm). 

The last-four meeting of Rovers and Celtic brings back memories of the 2023 final, when Kilmacrennan were crowned champions of the competition for the first time in their history.

McGrenaghan was also in the dugout that historic day but he admits the task, just two short years later, is much greater against what is now an all-conquering Letterkenny Rovers outfit. 

"It's a fantastic cup to win," McGrenaghan recalls. "Lifting the Brian McCormick Cup in 2023 – it was a great achievement for the club. 

“With all the people involved over the years, it was nice to get over the line. That feeling adds a little incentive too, because getting to the final was one of our aims at the start of the year. We played the rounds earlier in the season, and now it's something to look forward to."

Aiming to return to Donegal League HQ for a second final in three seasons, it is all systems go in the Kilmacrennan camp. 

While they've not played competitively since their league match against St. Catherine's three weeks ago, a recent friendly against Oldtown Celtic maintained a certain match sharpness – but it didn't go according to the script.

"It'll be a fairly normal week, training twice," he said. "It can be difficult to get all the boys there because of work, but that's kind of been the theme since Christmas.

"Since that point, we've struggled to get a full squad out for one reason or another, and it was our downfall.

"We played Oldtown Celtic last Friday just to get a run out. We didn't have the full complement and we didn't read too much into it – it was just to get minutes in the legs – but then we picked up a couple of injuries, which didn't help.

"We've got a few niggles at the moment, but we haven't played competitively in a few weeks, so they might pull through for Sunday.

 "We'll keep things together, and we might go into depth a bit more when we know the full rotation."

This will be the third meeting between the two sides this season. Rovers came out on top in both league encounters, and McGranaghan noted they'll play the role of underdog in this one.

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"They've beaten us twice this year already, by a decent margin," he started. "A few mistakes in the games cost us, but they certainly weren't lucky results.

"They're a great side, I respect them, and they've won the league undefeated, which is an incredible feat. I know all the players there, so I know what we're up against.

"Being a cup game, we're probably big underdogs going into it, but we've been there before, so we're not going to be afraid of it.

“We can’t sit back and let them dictate the direction of the game”.