With nine League games still to play, plus involvement in three Cup competitions, it promises to be a hectic couple of months for defending Four Lanterns Ulster Senior League champions Cockhill Celtic.
The Hoops are still on the charge in the League, they have semi-finals in the Donegal News League Cup and the Knockalla Caravans Senior Cup to come and they will also be in the pot for the first round draw in the FAI Senior Cup.
It has been a frustrating time of it for Cockhill, and others, given the volume of postponements since the turn of the year.
Cockhill will look to recapture their early-season momentum now with a pair of games on a busy Easter weekend seeing two home ties for Gavin Cullen’s side, who face Finn Harps Reserves on Friday and Letterkenny Rovers on Monday.
Rovers have an FAI Intermediate Cup semi-final replay on Sunday-week, but the Cathedral town side, one of the title challengers, aren’t on Cullen’s radar just yet.
“We can’t be looking forward to Monday’s game against Letterkenny yet,” the Cockhill manager said.
“We’ve played Harps twice recently and they’re a very good side. It’s the best that I’ve seen them since they came back into the Ulster Senior League. We know what they’re about and of course we know Letterkenny will be strong.
“If there is one good time to play Letterkenny, maybe it’s Monday with it being just six days before their replay in Dublin. They won’t want to take a chance on anyone with a wee niggle and they might have an eye on that big game.
“But we need to look after the Harps game first. The same three points are available for that game.”
Ahead of a busy schedule, Cullen has added three familiar faces to his ranks. Liam O’Donnell, Barry McColgan and Kieran McLaughlin are all included in the Cockhill squad and the trio featured in Sunday’s 2-0 win over Harps at the Charlie O’Donnell Sports Grounds.
Cullen says his team have to hit the ground running now.
He said: “It’s been a disaster for fixtures since Christmas and it will be mental between now and the end of the season.
“It’s been frustrating, but we need to get the momentum now that we had at the start of the season.
“It’s a short run-in now. You can’t afford to drop any points from here. We lost only one game last season and the League went to the wire. This year, we’ve lost once so far and there are two other teams in the mix.
“You can’t give anything away. We’ve had a fantastic goals record, scoring and conceding and our goal difference is way above anyone else’s, but it’s the points column that counts.
“It’s going to be tight between now and the end of the season and we always expected it to be nip and tuck.”
RESULTS
FAI New Balance Intermediate Cup semi-final
Sunday
Letterkenny Rovers 0 Firhouse Clover 0
Four Lanterns Ulster Senior League
Saturday
Bonagee United 1 Derry City Reserves 1
Sunday
Cockhill Celtic 2 Finn Harps Reserves 0
FIXTURES
Four Lanterns Ulster Senior League
Friday, March 30, 5.30pm
Cockhill Celtic v Finn Harps Reserves
Swilly Rovers v Letterkenny Rovers
Monday, April 2
2pm Fanad United v Derry City Reserves
5pm Cockhill Celtic v Letterkenny Rovers
5.30pm Finn Harps Reserves v Swilly Rovers
Table | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | ||
Cockhill Celtic | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 39 | 9 | 30 | 25 | ||
Fanad United | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 36 | 15 | 21 | 22 | ||
Letterkenny Rovers | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 10 | 8 | 18 | * | |
Finn Harps Reserves | 12 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 25 | 31 | -6 | 18 | * | |
Derry City Reserves | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 26 | 16 | 10 | 17 | ||
Bonagee United | 11 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 34 | -21 | 6 | ||
Swilly Rovers | 11 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 7 | 50 | -43 | 1 | ||
* Letterkenny Rovers awarded 3-0 win after Finn Harps didn’t field | ||||||||||