THE 2025 Championship was one to forget for Cloughaneely but team boss Michael Lynch hopes they can be more competitive this time around.
A number of serious injuries didn’t help their cause but it was still a surprise that they failed to win any of their four group games in 2025 and then lost to Fanad in a relegation play-off semi-final.
They eventually retained their Intermediate status at the last chance saloon against Na Rossa but it was a bit too close for comfort.
“Last year was very low. It wasn’t how we had hoped things would pan out at all,” said Lynch.
“We just have to be pleased that we’re still in the Intermediate. We could have taken a step down very easily.
“We’re hoping to get better performances alright to avoid finding ourselves in the same place.
“But look, there’s no easy games in it. When you look at the teams in it, there’s nobody that you would say they are guaranteed to go down.It’s a very tight championship.”
Cloughaneely finished eighth in Division 2 but another couple of results would have had them in the promotion mix.
They started the campaign well but tailed off towards the end, winning just one of their last five games.
That victory did come in style when they eased past Fanad and showed what they can do with a strong team out.
Lynch said: “We got points on the board early and that took the pressure off us.
“We had a good win in Malin but then we went to Bundoran and got beat and that probably put an end to it for us in terms of getting promotion. We got another two points after that against Fanad which kept us safe and we were happy enough.
“We had a couple of boys who went away on holidays and a few injuries. It was good just to be safe and under no pressure.”
Darren McGeever missed the bulk of the league through injury and Lynch says it’s unlikely he will feature in the Championship but he’s hoping Blake McGarvey will be available. They will need their best players for some testing fixtures.
“We have Malin and Buncrana away and we’re home to Bundoran and Carn.
“It’s tough. Three of the four teams beat us in the league. The day we beat Malin it could have gone either way. There’s nothing easy about it