BY MATTHEW WILSON

Bonagee United captain Dan O’Donnell is hoping that they can maintain their momentum when they make the trip to Traigh-a-Loch this Sunday to face Fanad United in the Brian McCormick Premier Division.

Boangee United have made a great start to the campaign picking up seven points from the first nine available, with three of them coming against local rivals Letterkenny Rovers last Sunday.

The Dry Arch Park residents claimed a fine 3-0 win over their neighbours on home soil to inflict a first domestic defeat on Stephen McConnell’s side in over a year.

The Bonagee United skipper stated that it was a great performance from the team but insists that the attention turns immediately to the next test that lies ahead this weekend.

“It was a great result and a great performance from start to finish but on reflection you don’t get anymore than three points for beating Letterkenny.”

“As soon as the final whistle went on Sunday my thoughts went straight to Traigh-a-Loch next weekend and it’s going to be another battle because there’s no easy games in this league.”

“We’ll obviously take great satisfaction from the game on Sunday and it’ll give us a massive boost but it’s going to be a tough game again on Sunday.”

Bonagee United are under the management of former player Michael Funston for this year’s campaign.

The former midfielder was part of Packie Mailey’s backroom staff last term but has now stepped into the manager’s hotseat at the club.

The 40 year-old has a wealth of experience in soccer which saw him line out 335 times in the Finn Harps shirt before returning to Dry Arch Park in 2017 to take to the field for Bonagee United.

Funston appears to have made a seamless transition into the managerial role and O’Donnell stated that he’s a great motivator within the dressing room.

“I was fortunate enough to play with Mickey, he was part of the coaching panel last year and now he’s stepped into management.”

“He’s a great motivator, he was like that on the pitch and he is like that now in the changing room. He wants the basics done right, he wants teams to go out and work hard and earn the right to wear the jersey and he says the talent will shine out after that.”

“He’s built a great squad and he’s a great coaching staff around him. You wouldn’t think from listening to him in training and team talks that it’s his first managerial job because he acts like an experienced manager.”

The Bonagee outfit have enjoyed great success at youth level in recent seasons, with a number of the underage graduates appearing to be part of Funston’s plans for the current campaign.

Eoghan Doherty started the outing with their neighbours last Sunday while Ricky Guntrip, Fintan Hasson, Adam Rodgers and Davin Kelly who also came through the ranks were sprung from the bench in the local derby.

“The underage structure within the club is very important, there’s great work going on at all levels. Yesterday, when you had the likes of Eoghan Doherty, Ricky Guntrip and Fintan Hasson who all came through the underage system.”

“You have the likes of Adam Rodgers and Davin Kelly who also featured yesterday, they’re part of the Under-16 team so it’s a great pathway now for young players in the county to go to a club like Bonagee and to go and get your senior football as well.”

The Dry Arch Park men will be aiming to maintain their momentum and make it three wins on the bounce when they visit Traigh-a-Loch to face Fanad United this Sunday.

The Fanad outfit have only been involved in league action once so far this season, with them sharing the spoils with Keadue Rovers in their own backyard.

The pair met last month in the Brian McCormick Sports Cup which saw Bonagee United secure a 2-0 win however, O’Donnell understands that they are coming up against a much changed Fanad United side this weekend.

“It’ll be a massive test. We played them a couple of weeks ago and they were a weakened side. A lot of their more experienced players were playing Gaelic football. We know that going down there on Sunday, it’s going to be a completely different team that we play.”

“It’s never an easy game in Fanad no matter what team you face but that team has won the league a couple of times so we’re under no illusions that it’s going to be a battle down there on Sunday.”

“But as I said, we have momentum now and great belief in the squad so hopefully we can go down there and get the job done.”