Fanad United hoping for another extended FAI Junior Cup run

Fanad United will be hoping to go on a similar run to last year in the FAI Junior Cup, but they have a tough task in front of them with a trip to Cockhill Celtic on Sunday.

The Traigh-A-Loch men reached the last eight of the competition last season, but they haven’t been able to hit those heights so far this season.

Arthur Lynch’s men finished third in the Brian McCormick Premier Division last year after back-to-back league titles, but this season has been a bit more up and down, the boss admitted.

“We’ve been inconsistent ourselves, and for one reason or another, we haven’t been able to string results together. Fixtures-wise, from the end of November until the second week of February, we played three games, so it is hard to keep that going.

“The last few weeks we have had a good run of games, but we haven’t been at our best, and it’s hard to put our finger on what it is, but the boys are still working hard, and I still think if we keep at it, then the results will come.

“We’ve had a few in and out with injury, but not a whole lot. Paddy McGinley went to Australia, and he was a big personality in the team; he was the captain for the last few years.

“It’s hard to replace a presence like that, but a lot of young boys are coming through, and that’s where you have to look to bring them through, and it’s been a bit of a learning curve, every team has that.”

Younger players have come up from their Saturday team, with the likes of Oisin McHugh, Daibhid Lynch, Caolan McElwaine, Dylan McGlone, Charlie McAteer, and Adam Carr all getting good minutes with the senior team.

Oisin, Daibhid, and Caolan are all 18, Dylan and Adam are 19, Charlie McAteer is 20, and they have all played from the youth team to Saturday, then they’ve been in and out with us.

“It’s giving them experience at senior level, and it’s been very beneficial for us. Even for numbers at training, it helps to keep everyone sharp.”

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They meet Inishowen Premier Division champions Cockhill Celtic on Sunday in the Charlie O’Donnell Sports Ground (kick-off 1.30pm), who are on a high after reclaiming the title last Sunday with a win over Carndonagh.

“We have a cup match to look forward to on Sunday, and we’ll focus on that and do our best to get to the next round because it’s a great competition.

“Cockhill haven’t dropped a point in their league this year and won the title on Sunday past so they’re a strong and experienced team but we’ll have a rattle and we’ll see how we get on.

“I saw a bit of them on Sunday, but it’s nothing really new. They’re a finely tuned machine, and they’ve had a lot of success down the years, and you don’t get that without hard work.

“We’ll put it up to them as best we can, and hopefully we can get a result.”

The club have had a good history in the FAI Intermediate Cup when part of the Ulster Senior League, winning the competition twice and getting to the final once more.

But last year was the first time in decades that they went far in the competition, getting out of Ulster before winning against St. John's Athletic FC, Harding FC, and Tramore AFC, but they lost out to Fairview Rangers in the quarter-final with a 96th-minute winner falling for the eventual winners.

“Last year was probably the first time in ten years that we had a run at it at the national level, and down the years, we probably took it for granted because we were always down the country and playing them big games.

“The club went through a transition period, but they’re in a much better place now than we were, so these games are the ones you look at and look forward to.

“It’s unfortunate that you get out of the county to go into the last 64, and you might only have three Ulster teams left.

“You’re going out of Ulster, and it seems a bit unfair, but there must be more numbers down the country.

“It’s our focus this week, we want to do as well as we can in the league, and we’ll be fighting for every point we can, but this weekend gives us a break.

“It’s a pity that the FAI has let down the teams that wouldn’t conform to playing summer football when they put the Junior and Intermediate Cups across the calendar year.

“Of all the Junior leagues in the country, there are probably only two of them playing summer football, Mayo and Waterford, that I know of, and a lot of clubs probably didn’t enter the competition because of that reason.

“There’s no consideration for anyone’s opinion if they didn’t want to play calendar-year football.”

They will be without two of their starters from last Saturday’s 4-3 defeat to Kilmacrennan Celtic, with Patrick Moffitt and Oisin McHugh both coming off injured.

“Oisin got a nasty one, there was no malice in it. He’s a very honest player, and he doesn’t pull out of anything, but he was a bit unlucky to open up the knee. It’ll definitely be too soon for him this Sunday.

“Patrick tweaked the hamstring, so he’ll probably be touch-and-go as well. We had a few boys going into the game last Saturday who were in a similar boat, but we’re hoping they might be ready for this weekend.”