FTER Ballybofey United clinched promotion to Division One, manager PH Bonar praised the dedication put in by the players all year as they move one step closer to the title.
Ballybofey’s 1-0 win away to Whitestrand took them to that magic forty point mark that saw them achieve automatic promotion, while they then ran out 3-0 winners against Deele Harps last Sunday and are now one point off of clinching the title.
After 15 games, Ballybofey remain unbeaten in Division Two since the first game back in September, but the work began long before then for a side hungry to return to the second tier after missing out on the play-off place on the final day last season.
“We had a meeting at the start of the year and it was our target,” Bonar said.
“Anything else wasn’t going to be good enough but the league title was never mentioned.
“Get out of the division and have a go at a higher one (was the aim), but it has happened quicker than expected because we have used a lot of younger lads.
“The older players really stepped up too, they accepted that the younger fellas would be playing and they might have to sit on the bench to give them a chance to play.
“When you haven’t lost a league game you can’t really give out, they’ve bought into it and trained hard.
“They deserve promotion because they have put in a massive effort, even before we started training they did six weeks of S&C off their own backs with Conor McGlynn.
“They wanted promotion and the whole lot of them bought into it so it really is down to the players, they wanted it so much and it’s about trying to keep moving forward next year and finish the season strong.
“We achieved the main target for the season so anything from here on in will be a bonus. To get the league title would be great but we’ve got what we wanted and it’s great to see it.
“The Whitestrand game was big for us because it was the first time this season we struggled for a squad, I had 17 named and I lost three on the morning of the game and another the night before.
“We had two 16-year-olds and a 17-year-old on the bench so we were under pressure and it was great to get the result when we were light for options but other than that we were lucky all year.
“We didn’t play that well against Deele, we got two goals early and Deele took total control then and could have scored two or three themselves. We were glad to go in 2-0 up and got an early goal in the second half to kill the game.
“It’s good to get results when you don’t play brilliant and that has happened a few times this year but just to confirm promotion was massive for them.
“We were only down there (in Division Two) for two years but it’s not always easy to get out of there. We have a few games left to go so it’s good to not go down to the last game when it does get nervy.”
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