AS a diehard Celtic supporter, it wasn’t easy for Stephen Cassidy to miss the Old Firm derby last Sunday but he says it was vital that he was in Greenbrae to help his Gweedore United side defeat Lifford Celtic.
Gweedore came away with a 4-1 win and that leaves them in seventh position in the league.
Cassidy’s men are keen to retain their Temple Domestic Appliances Division One status and a win over Cranford this Sunday will see them meet that objective.
Gweedore have taken seven points from a possible nine in their last three matches with a draw against Castlefin Celtic followed by victories against Milford United and Lifford.
“I have to say the boys have really dug in for me,” said Cassidy.
“Gaoth Dobhair’s Gaelic team were playing in the Ulster League and reached the final and for a lot of our boys the GAA comes first and the soccer is second.
“But the boys know how important the last couple of games have been and the likes of Ethan Harkin, Cathal Gillespie, Sean Noel McFadden and Gary McFadden have really dug me out.
“We were 3-1 up against Castlefin and ended up drawing the match. The boys were all disappointed but I said at the time that the point could keep us up.
“And now if we win this weekend, we will be seven points ahead of Cappry and they will only have two games left so that point could be very important.”
Cassidy’s team caught the eye last season with a series of impressive results and the Carrickboyle men appeared to be building in the right direction.
However, they never really got into their stride this year and weren’t in contention for promotion.
“Last year we were the only team in the league to beat (Letterkenny) Rovers.
“We beat Bonagee and Fanad and Kilmacrennan, and we weren’t afraid to take on any team.
“And if we had everyone there we would be a match for any team but that only happens seven or eight times a year.
“We have lost two stalwarts in Mark McFadden and Jamie McGee to Australia and our goalkeeper Oran Craig did his cruciate earlier this year.
“Thankfully CJ (Doherty) has been back from London in the last few weeks and he’s made a big difference for us.
“We’re away to Cranford this week and that’s a big game. We have Glenea and Lagan to come after that and if we win those matches we could end up finishing fourth, but if we lose them we would be in bother for the play-off.
“We will be trying to get it (safety) sorted as soon as possible.
“We would be happy enough to stay in the league. To be honest, I don’t even know if teams would want to be promoted with some of the clubs that are in the Premier (Division).
“We’re in a good league at the minute with a good standard and it’s a decent learning place for our young players.
“We have a great pitch and facilities and a great youth structure so things are definitely heading in the right direction for us.”
One of the real highlights of the season for Gweedore has been the goalscoring exploits of teenage striker, Brian McFadden.
He has scored 12 goals this year and is vying for the Top Goalscorer award in the league, although Lagan’s Kyle Martin is now three ahead.
Cassidy said: “Brian is only 16 and he’s a tremendous young player for us.
“I brought him into the squad last year. I know the family well and his father said to me he would be worth a go with our Sunday team.
“I told him I knew that but that he was playing for about six different teams between the two codes and I didn’t want to burn him out. He was with the Donegal Schoolboys team and he was up training with the Donegal GAA Academy in Convoy too.
“But then his father came back to me a wee while later and said he was finished with everything apart from Gweedore Under 16s, so I gave him his debut in the next match and he scored against Lagan.
“He has been absolutely fantastic since then and he was top scorer in the league up until two weeks ago.
“Now I have noticed that he’s starting to get a lot of attention from other teams, and that’s what happens when a young lad scores the winner in the Galway Cup Final and starts to build up a bit of a name for himself.
“He’s a big strong boy but we took him off at 1-1 last week just to try and protect him and manage him as best as we can.
“I would love to see him push for the top goalscorer in the league. He hasn’t scored in the last two matches but he’s doing the dirty work and his hold-up play is great so he has three more games now and hopefully he can score a few more for us.”
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