BY CHRIS ASHMORE
It was a case of double celebrations for many of the Glenea United camp over the weekend, beginning with a wedding and ending with a Donegal Junior League Division One title.
And afterwards, Glenea manager Sean Coll paid tribute to his players.
On Friday, many of the squad were in attendance as regular goalkeeper Shaun McClafferty married his fiancé Niamh – and it was a late night for some.
And yesterday, the champagne cork was popping as they defeated Castlefin Celtic 2-1 at Páirc Joe to become the second tier champions.
“The boys were very good, I told them to enjoy themselves on Friday and then they had the day off to recover,” Coll quipped.
While McClafferty was unable to play in this final game of the season, Joe Coll stepped in between the sticks.
Also away was captain Kevin Mulhern (on holidays) and it was the veteran Darren McGeever who put on the armband for the occasion, and who also had the honour at the end to lift the trophy.
Coll was proud of his team over a campaign that saw them win 12, drew four and lose only two league games.
“We are elated, it has been a long season and we are just delighted to get over the line,” he said.
He acknowledged that they “had not played overly well” in the first half but if he had been given the 2-0 cushion at the break in advance he would have snapped at it.
He also felt that they “got a bit complacent” in the second half, and felt it might have been down to some nerves in what is essentially a very young team.
Looking ahead, Coll concluded: “It’s great to be back in the Premier Division. It is where you want to be. It’s the standard you want to push young fellas to play in. We were lucky enough to be in it for years before and I think the standard now is as good as it has ever been in fairness.”
Donegal Town defeated Ballybofey United to secure promotion to the top flight, while Lagan Harps, who made light work of Gweedore United, will face the Premier Division team that finishes third from bottom in a play-off next month.
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