CIARAN McCaughey pulls no punches when he says that Realt na Mara have underperformed for the last ten years.

The Bundoran club threatened to become a senior team of note but then drifted away and there has been a general malaise in recent times.

McCaughey says last year was ‘miserable’ as they only won one league game and were relegated to Division 2 and the championship wasn’t much better.

Morale is better now after a steady campaign in Division 2.

McCaughey, who manages the team along with Barry McGowan, is looking forward to the championship.

He is pleased that they have Malin on home turf in their last match while they will also take on Naomh Pádraig, Uisce Chaoin at Gaelic Park.

They have already defeated Fanad once this year in Portsalon and will hope to repeat the trick while they are also away to Burt.

McCaughey says they will get their homework done and he doesn’t envisage any easy games.

“There’s none.

“We were in the Intermediate for years and it can be a nightmare to get out of and it all comes down to who wants it the most.

“I think in reality Bundoran have to decide where they are at.

“We have underperformed for the last ten years and there has been a mentality there of just happy to go through the motions.

“Going through different managers every year and bringing in coaches.

“It’s got to be player-led.

“From a club perspective, we probably neglected our underage for many, many years and unfortunately we’re the product of that now.

“But there are a lot of structures being put in place now and a good fresh executive and they are tackling multiple issues like underage and the development of our facilities to get it up to scratch for a senior club.”

As always county player Jamie Brennan will be central to Bundoran’s cause.

Timmy Govorov has transferred to a club in Dublin but Gary Glancy is on the books again after a short stint with Melvin Gaels in Leitrim.

“Gary is back but it’s just keeping him injury free now. Over the years he has played a lot of football but he’s just a massive asset. Scores win games and Clancy is a massive player for us, converting frees and the likes. We have a nice mix of experience and young players which we haven’t had over the years.

“You have Conor Carty in goals and then you have Oisin Walsh, Matthew Duffy, Ryan Barrett, and Adam McGlone and then more experienced players like Mikey McEniff, Shane McGowan, Dara Hoey, and Johnny Boyle.

“You have all the ingredients there for success, it’s just pulling it all together.”