Glenea United prepare for step up in divisions as Brian McCormick Cup begins

Glenea United begin the new season in a different environment but begin in familiar land in the Brian McCormick Cup.

Seán Coll’s men won the Division 1 title in dramatic circumstances last year, as they were pushed to the last day of the season.

Coming to the final match, Donegal Town and Lagan Harps were one and two points behind respectively, so it was a must-win match in Glasserchoo against Castlefin Celtic and while they led 2-0 against ten men, Castlefin got one back and made it a nervy finale, but they held on to win promotion and the league.

“When we set off at the start of the year I would have been reasonably confident that we could challenge, but I was delighted to get promoted,” Coll said ahead of the start of the new season.

“Silverware at any level is hard to come by. For a lot of them, it could be their first senior medal and there is no guarantee that they’ll ever win another one, so it was a nice finish to a good season.

“We were a young side, five or six would be over 30, the likes of Darren McGeever, Kevin Mulhern, Barry McGinley, Stephen Doak and the two goalkeepers.

“There’s a lost demographic then between 24 to 30 because they have emigrated, the likes of Mark Harley, Lee O’Brien, who aren’t about so the majority of the team are between 18 to 23.”

They’ll go into the new season with a similar team, and they begin with a familiar away trip as they face Cranford United, who beat them 5-4 on penalties in this round last year of the Gweedore Area, after a thrilling 4-4 draw.

But hopes are of making it further to keep the games flowing before the start of the league season on September 21, minus some of their dual players.

“We haven’t lost anyone, but Calvin Murray is emigrating to Australia in November, so we managed to retain the rest of the boys, and then Tiernan McGinty has signed back from Institute and Carragher Friel had signed back from Derry City, but unfortunately, he tore his cruciate in the summer playing Gaelic.

“The league are sensible to get the cup up and running and it gives teams a fairer crack at the league when it does start.

“Rural teams have a dependency on the lads that play Gaelic, and we’d be no different. We’ll have five or six lads tied up until mid-September, and you’re hoping to navigate through as best as we can, so having the cup early suits us.

“When we had the run-in during the start of the Gaelic, they all prioritised soccer so for the sake of the cup and the next few weeks, we’ll manage through.

“We’ve played Cranford away a lot in the last five years in this cup and they beat us last year on penalties after extra-time.

“They do have a bit of a hoodoo over us, and it is a hard place to go and win, especially at the start of the season.

“They weren’t going great last season, and we just about won 2-1, so it’s a tough place to go, and they always make it difficult, so we’ll be wary of them.

“But it would be great to get through and get a second fixture, even just for pre-season prospects, because trying to get friendlies arranged is tough.

READ NEXT: Odhran McHugh nets hat-trick for Northern Ireland U-16s

“Winning breeds confidence, and if we got through, we’d play Kilmacrennan or Gweedore Celtic, so that would give us a good indication of where we’re at before the league starts.”

With Lagan Harps dropping out of the top tier, there will be just nine teams with one down automatically and one in the play-off, and Glenea are targeting around the 20-point mark to stay up.

“It’s a different division to the one we left just two years ago, the dynamics have changed with (Letterkenny) Rovers and Bonagee going up, they’ve raised the standards, so we just want to compete and stay in the division.

“But it’s a challenge we’re looking forward to and, at home especially, I don't think we’ll be too fearful of anybody.”