McGranaghan still feels Kilmacrennan Celtic are 'going for two in a row'

The record books might not agree but the feeling around Kilmacrennan Celtic is that they’re going for a second Donegal League Premier Division title in succession.

A protracted legal battle ended up in the court of arbitration, which saw Cappry Rovers declared champions for 2019/20 with Kilmacrennan deemed to have fielded a suspended player for which they were docked three points. A lengthy appeal followed.  

At the time, Kilmacrennan insisted they had checked with the league as to the player, Enda McCormick’s availability, but in the end it was Cappy who were posing for the photographs with the trophy.

Kilmacrennan cruise to Convoy victory to seal Premier Division play-off

Kilmacrennan got their own job done with little fuss and were indebted to Kildrum Tigers for taking a point from Bonagee United

Only on Thursday, a Keadue Rovers appeal over the fielding of Paul Boyle went as far as the Ulster FA, who upheld the decision of the Donegal League to award Kilmacrennan a 3-0 win over the side from Central Park. The match itself, playing on April 3 ended in a 1-1 draw. 

That meant that Gerard McGranaghan’s side were just two points behind leaders Bonagee United going into the final set of fixtures of the season. They knew that in all likelihood a win over an already relegated Convoy Arsenal was probably essential and then the hope was that Kildrum Tigers could take something from the visit of Bonagee. It was to end 1-1.

Kilmacrennan breezed home on a 4-0 scoreline and with goal difference not a factor - both sides ended up at +22 but Kilmacrennan scored 41 to Bonagee’s 35 - it means a winner-takes-all play-off on Sunday, May 29.

“If anyone said to us even two games ago - with all that was going on - we’d have taken it for sure,” McGranaghan said this afternoon. “Even by Thursday, when we had the meeting with Ulster, we just kept saying we need to keep our eye on the ball. Make sure to win and keep in contention, keep training and see where it takes us. It was kind of hard. But we had to be ready and available and we were, thankfully. 

Stalemate at Kildrum denies Bonagee as Premier Division race goes to play-off

Bonagee were held to a 1-1 draw by Kildrum Tigers in St Johnston

“For me and the boys we’re going for two in a row. We all know how that went last year and it was a bad ending. We won it on the pitch. On the last day last year we won well in Drumkeen and it was very disheartening walking off that day and not getting presented with the trophy. It had part to play to gear us up again this year, just to go and win in it with no courts.”

McGranaghan said the focus all week was Convoy and whatever else happened outside of Kilmacrennan’s control would happen.

“Fair play to Kildrum, they didn’t lie down and they made a game of it,” he added. “All we could do was concentrate on beating Convoy today. Even though they’ve already been relegated we didn’t at any stage take them for granted. We’re happy with the performance and the goals and then all we could do was wait on the other result to come through.

“It’s always going to be a bit of struggle when you push too hard to get that first goal. We had to be patient and we put the focus on just getting that first goal. It broke the nerves a bit and we got playing. Had it gone on we might’ve started panicking. We’re left now with essentially a cup final in a couple of weeks and it should be a great day for fans of local football.”