Strand, Oldtown meet in Voodoo Venue Cup final

Strand Rovers want to make it third time lucky and Oldtown Celtic are aiming to land a League and Cup double when they meet in Saturday’s Voodoo Venue Cup final (The Diamond Park, kick-off 1pm).

The latest version of the Saturday League’s blue ribband competition sees Strand looking to make up for final defeats in 2017 and 2019 while Oldtown could add the Cup to the Glencar Inn Division 1 League title they’ve already secured.

Either way, the silversmith will inscribe a new name upon the trophy.

Strand Rovers player-manager Shane O’Donnell, who succeeded Jim O’Donnell in the role last summer, knows his side are the underdogs.

“Oldtown scored 79 goals in the League this year and that’s nothing to be laughed at,” he told Donegal Live.

“It’s some scoring and we know we’re he underdogs. We’re on the go about ten years now and we’ve won two League titles and this is our third final.”

Strand were Saturday League champions in 2018 and 2019, but the Voodoo Venue Cup has eluded them. Having lost to Arranmore in 2017, they were pipped by Glencar Celtic in the 2019 decider.

“It’s great for the Maghery area and great for some of the players here who are in their first season with us,” O’Donnell said. “It’s a great wee club here and a great community.

“It has been a hard year. We were sitting mid table and knew from a good bit out that we weren’t challenging at the top and that we wouldn’t go down. We were down a lot of numbers for a lot of games, but we’ve really knuckled down again in the last three weeks. There’s been good, hard work put in at training and we’re looking forward to getting a chance at Ballyare again.”

Strand defeated Ramelton Mariners 3-0 in their semi-final with David McCarron, James McCole and Michael Curran netting.

McCole, Doalty Boyle, Stephen Glackin and Brendan Glackin provide solid experience for Strand, while youngsters like Aaron Ward, Michael Ward and Ryan Brennan have added further energy.

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Stephen Glackin has aided O’Donnell but, with both on the playing panel, Stephen Cowley was added to the management team.

“It’s hard enough to manage when you’re playing,” O’Donnell said. “You’re tired at times and maybe can’t see a lot so Stephen Cowley has come in and been a great help.

“This is our third final in five years and we’d love to get over the line this week.”

Strand were the sixth-placed team in the League with free-scoring Oldtown crowned as the champions.

Tam McLaughlin’s men were crowned champions the night before a 12-2 win at Milford when Glenea defeated Glencar at Pairc Joe.

The double is on the line for Oldtown this weekend.

“We can’t get carried away,” McLaughlin said. “Cup finals are one-off games and anything can happen. We certainly can’t go in over confident.

“Strand are one of the hardest teams we’ve played this season. We drew with them 2-2 about eight weeks ago and our 4-1 win before that was a lie - they just didn’t take their chances that day. This will be a tough game for us.”

Kevin McGrath was recruited from Letterkenny Rovers in mid-season while Ciaran Gibson and Kyle Gormley have shaken off injuries and been key performers.

Tommy McLaughlin, a goalkeeper until a pretty recent conversion, has scored 37 goals in all competitions this season, while Luke Nelis and Sean Cleary are others who are central to Oldtown’s hopes.

“The double hasn’t been done for a while now in the Saturday League and we need to turn up with our best game,” the Oldtown manager said. “We have a strong panel. We had 26 boys at training this week and we have a hard job picking 18 for the squad, never mind 11 to play. That’s what won us the League - the strong squad. We know that, whatever team we pick, the bench will be strong.”

With McLaughlin unsure of his role for next season, due to a pending procedure in the summer, he’ll hand some of the decision-making to assistant manager, Chrissy McLaughlin, his nephew, for his weekend’s game.

“I’ll let Chrissy pick a team,” he said. “I had thought about giving this up and I didn’t think we would do the job. It would be a dream end to the season if we could manage it.”