Letterkenny Rovers begin Brian McCormick Cup title defence this weekend

With the return of action to the Donegal Junior League and the first round of the Brian McCormick Cup getting underway this weekend, Letterkenny Rovers begin their first of three title defences.

It was a sensational year for the Leckview Park men, going unbeaten in Donegal as they won the Premier Division, Ulster Cup and the McCormick Cup.

And for manager Stephen McConnell, he admits it will be hard to live up to the same success.

“It’s going to be a hard year to top, going unbeaten domestically but hopefully we can keep that record going for as long as possible into this year.

“Even winning that Community Cup, it was good to keep that winning mentality going so we’re looking to get off to a good start competitively.

“Last year we had a couple of draws and you could see the lads in the dressing room saying that it wasn’t good enough so their standards were high and we kept that all season.”

From last season, they have lost club captain and long-time servant Chris Malseed to retirement, but they have made key signings in Simon McGlynn from Strabane Athletic and Shane McNamee from Kilmacrennan Celtic.

Blake Forkan returned for the Brian McCormick Cup final after suffering a broken leg in the final the year before, but has been struggling to play full games, although they do have Mark Anthony McGinley back after missing pre-season and McConnell feels the squad is improving all the time.

“Chris got his ACL surgery in the summer and he’s called it a day but he’ll be about to give us a hand on Sundays, it’s important to keep men like Chris Malseed about the club.

“We lost Ryan Lonergan to injury in a charity match but we’re hoping he’ll be back in October.

“Dylan Woods and Adam Murphy have gone to Strabane but we have Simon in from them and Shane in from Kilmacrennan so the competition is stronger and there will be even more fighting for places.

“We’ll have to rotate a wee bit but everyone is keen and pushing each other on. The standard has gone up another notch and the matches we play in training are a brilliant standard.”

Kerrykeel ‘71 are the first side up for Letterkenny Rovers in the first of their title defences, kicking off at 1pm in Leckview Park.

The pair were meant to meet at this round last year, but Kerrykeel failed to field a team. 

A clash with the Gaelic football tends to impact the Rabs Park men at the beginning of the season, but they got momentum going after and ended up winning the Division Two title in a last-day decider against Convoy Arsenal.

“It’s important to keep the momentum going, and Kerrykeel will have some as well after winning the league, which was a good achievement for them.

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“We never get easy games, and I’m not being patronising. Rathmullan Celtic didn’t get a point in the league and they were two of our closest games, they had scored four goals all season when we had played them the second time in the league and three were against us.

“Teams do lift it against us, whether it was them thinking they had nothing to lose, so we aren’t expecting an easy game on Sunday. It’ll be good to get the season up and running, and hopefully we can start with a win.”

They are unsure of what numbers they will have for the game, as nine of their players are attending a trial for the Ulster Regional Training Day for the Irish Amateur International Team in Ballyare this Saturday.

Simon McGlynn, Shane McNamee, Aidy Delap, Mark Anthony McGinley, BJ Banda, Dean McCarry, Caolan McConnell, Nathan Plumb, Luke Parke, and Dean McCarry have all been invited to attend.

“A lot of the boys are getting excited for it and hopefully it goes well for them. They have training and a game on Saturday, so I don't think they’ll all be able to play 90 on Sunday after that.

“It’s a lot to ask them to do, but that’s why we have a squad and we’ll play it by ear.”