WHEN DEELE HARPS had their fingers loosened, one by one, on the CT Ball Division 2 title by Erne Wanderers on the season’s final day, Shane Gallagher thought the boat had gone.
At the Lifford Athletic Grounds, Michael Ward’s brace of goals handed Erne a 2-0 win that saw them leapfrog Deele and win the title.
Deele entered that game a point in front of the Ballyshannon men. A draw would have got them a play-off against Glenree United, the only team in contention.
They lost and missed out on both the automatic promotion spots.
[adrotate group=”62″]Gallagher gave his team some time off and they didn’t regroup again until Sunday, when they defeated Cranford United on penalties at The Diamond Park in the promotion-relegation play-off.
“After that defeat by Erne, to not even get second place, I was just sickened,” says Gallagher.
“We didn’t kick a ball on Sunday. A part of me didn’t want the play-off at all, but fair play to the boys they got the job done.
“It was sickening not to win the League. We went into that last game with it in our own hands and we lost it.”
[adrotate group=”46″]Gallagher, the team’s player-manager, led the way with 20 goals in a campaign that was far from straight forward.
On St Valentine’s Day, they were leading Ballybofey United 1-0, with Gallagher scoring, when referee Barry Hunter abandoned the fixture after 73 minutes when some spectators encroached onto the field.
[adrotate group=”37″]The Donegal League ruled that the final 17 minutes be played, with Deele going into it leading 1-0.
And so they met again on March 27 and Deele clung on to take the three points.
“That was tough to set a team for that game,” Gallagher says.
“Everyone was telling me to treat it as a normal game, but it was never going to be anything like a normal day.
“We just had to get over the line and that’s what we set out to do. It was a complete onslaught from Ballybofey for that 17 minutes. They had nothing to lose that day; we had everything to lose.
“We showed a lot of character that day.”
[adrotate group=”43″]From the outset, Gallagher and Deele targeted promotion, but numbers became tight after the Christmas break. The likes of Gary McGirr, Brian Breslin, Seamie Gallagher and Gavin Gallagher weren’t available every week and Johnny Mahon – who joined in the summer along with Kevin McBrearty from Lifford Celtic – had work commitments that meant he couldn’t be there at times.
That all came after promising young
“It’s been a struggle at times,” says the Deele player-boss. “We haven’t been able to get the main 11 out every week. In that division, it makes things so hard. We lost men with work and the Gaelic season starting didn’t help either.
“We’re working off a very small panel anyway. Losing one or two is hard enough, but any more makes it nearly impossible.”
On Sunday, for instance, Deele lined out with a makeshift midfield of Darren Gillespie and Mark McNulty, but they battled it out as Deele forced extra time and, then, penalties.
[adrotate group=”35″]Gary Crawford had Deele 1-0 ahead, but Andrew Kelly and Brendan Devine scored to put Cranford in front only for Deele’s veteran Barry Curran to score a wonderful individual goal.
Keelan McGee restored Cranford’s advantage and when Lee Coll was sent off for Deele, the hope seemed gone.
But back they came and Kieran McGowan’s goal forced extra-time, where goalkeeper Chris Roulstone made a brilliant save and in the shoot-out, it was Roulstone who made the crucial stop, with Crawford, Gillespie, Gallagher and Paul Lynch netting spot-kicks for Deele.
“The result on Sunday was amazing,” Gallagher says.
“Winning the League was the big aim for us at the start of the year, but we just wanted promotion. We had to get out of that division. If we had the full commitment from all the boys all year we’d have won the League.
“We dropped some points we shouldn’t have dropped too.”
Former Derry City, Finn Harps, Omagh Town, Coleraine and Newry City player Curran, now 38, remains a pivotal cog in the wheel; player-manager Gallagher is 37, but still has a keen eye for goal; Crawford and Eddie Connolly are 35; and Tom Mullen is 32.
The experience has been vital for Deele, who returned to the Sunday Divisions six seasons ago after a spell in the Saturday League. They were briefly in the top flight but dropped back after a season.
Now, though, they’re on the rise again.
“We went back to Saturday to try and develop a few players and we’ve been down in Division 2 for a couple of seasons now – it’s important for the club to get out of there and keep building and improving.”
Deele Harps squad 2015/16: Chris Roulstone, Willie Curran, Lee Coll, Aaron Conroy, Kieran McGowan, Thomas Mullen, Gary Crawford, Gary McGir, Kenan Gallagher, Kevin McBrearty, Mark McNulty, Darren Gillespie, Aidy Gallagher, Paul Lynch, Corey Gallagher Lynch,Declan Lafferty, Emmet Catterson, Cathal McGowan, Eddie Connolly, Gavin Gallagher, Mark Foley, Conor Catterson, Johnny Mahon, Kevin Lynch, Seamus Gallagher, Brian Breslin, Sean O’Reilly, Shane Gallagher, Barry Curran.
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