DONEGAL JUNIOR Champions Downings are on the lookout for a new manager after Andy Connor confirmed his intention to step down.
Downings won the Donegal JFC title in dramatic fashion when they overcame Naomh Padraig, Muff in the decider at O’Donnell Park.
This year, Downings won the Donegal and All-Ireland Junior Gaeltacht titles and, after clinching the Donegal Junior crown, went onto the Ulster JFC semi-final, where they lost to Blackhill of Monaghan.
“The commitment is just massive to manage a team now and it’s something that I’ve been thinking about for the last couple of weeks,” Connor told Donegal Sport Hub.
[adrotate group=”76″]“The length of time from we started in January to almost the middle of November was crazy. We had around 120 training sessions this year. It’s a mad commitment.
“I have four kids at home, too. It really is a full-time job managing a team. You’re phoning boys wondering why they haven’t been at training or trying to get things organised.
“It’s really time consuming. I was in as manager for two years and I suppose it wasn’t a bad spell. It’s time to hand it over and whoever comes in is getting a good team with a fair bit of potential.
[adrotate group=”53″]“There are a lot of good, young players coming up in the club and it’s up to the players to take it to the next level.”
Downings dropped down to Division 3 in 2014 when they collected just one League point all year, but Connor’s appointment helped steady the slide.
Back in June, a 35-year gap was bridged when Downings overcame Rinn Mhaoile to win the All-Ireland Gaeltacht crown in Cork.
[adrotate group=”46″]While they had a great Championship year, there was disappointment in the League for Downings, who were just five points behind Buncrana, who were promoted to Division 2.
Connor said: “The margins were very thin in the League. We could have got promoted. We were only five points off Buncrana, we lost home games against Naomh Ultan and Naomh Colmcille and we couldn’t field in a game against Letterkenny Gaels.
“There are the three wins that could have lifted us above Buncrana. That was probably more disappointing than anything else this year.”
Connor believes that the club calendar in Donegal needs revising.
[adrotate group=”38″]He said: “There was no let up for us this year, but we had good runs in those competitions. The problem I see is that Donegal clubs voted against having the Leagues finished before Championship starts.
“I think that would be a good idea and also don’t see a reason we couldn’t be playing midweek League games. People will cry away about missing this boy or that boy, but it’s the same for everyone. We could and should play midweek.
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