By Harry Walsh

THERE is indeed a thin line between success and failure in sport - just ask Kilcar manager John McNulty.

Tomorrow afternoon, he leads the men from Towney into battle with Glenswilly in the Division One relegation play-off at Davy Brennan Memorial Park (throw-in 2pm). The losers in Glenties will join Killybegs in Division Two next year.

As McNulty surveyed the standings in the League table this week, two things immediately struck him. The first was that his Kilcar team were on the verge of something incredible this year. The other was that not one side in the entire competition had a perfect record.

"We reached our first County semi final in twelve years back in September. We finished one point off the play-offs and beat most other teams in the league," he lamented.

Beaten by Naomh Conaill in the County final back in September, Kilcar also lost out to the men from Glenties in a relegation play-off game on Sunday last. Two weeks earlier they were beaten by Dungloe, also in the Division 1 Relegation Playoff series.

"I believe that it will have been a good year for Kilcar should we win on Saturday," McNulty said.

With Conor McShane (groin) and Michael Molloy (ankle) struggling to be fit and Mark Sweeney not featuring in recent games with a shoulder injury, the Kilcar manager remains remarkably upbeat.

"I'm an optimist by nature and I'll carry that into Saturday's game. It's simply a matter of having to win the game or else we're back down in Division Two for the first time in five years.

"I wouldn't mind if, over the course of the league, we deserved to go down but that hasn't been the case. We came within a point of a league semi final and an hour of reaching the County final and here we are facing a relegation play-off," he sighed.

Like all other clubs in Donegal, Kilcar's season started back in February and McNulty believes that the season has dragged on far too long.

"I've spoken to a lot of clubs and whatever arguments are made about this year's league being exciting they all agree on one thing - we shouldn't be playing football in the mouth of Christmas.

"It's okay until the end of October but not December. Ask Ardara or St Eunan's. I bet they're not too bothered about playing a League final on December 12. One of our lads decided earlier in the year to go to Liverpool on the weekend of December 12. He thought - as did we all - that the season would be well over but that's not the case. Players or managers cant plan for anything," he said.

Looking forward to Saturday's match, McNulty said that form would could for little.

"It's that long since we played them that I can hardly remember them. At this stage it looks like the ground will be heavy. It will be a battle whatever you look at it and that's all I'm focused on at this stage," he said.

competitive games

While Kilcar have a number of injury concerns in the lead up to Saturday's game, Glenswilly boss John McGinley is more concerned about their lack of competitive games.

McGinley took over as manager following the resignation of former Armagh player Barry O'Hagan. He expects County players Michael Murphy, Neil Gallagher and Ciaran Bonner to all start.

"Everyone is fit for selection but the problem we have is that we don't know how fit they are. I'm not making excuses but we haven't had a game in seven weeks and, as a result, the preparations for Saturday haven't been ideal.

"That said, it was our performances on the field which have put us in this position and it's up to the players to try and salvage something from the season this weekend," he said.

"The game has been fixed for Glenties and we'll go there and give it a real go. Kilcar beat us by a point in the second last game of the season and I expect there won't be much in it.

"People talk about our big players but I'll be looking for big performances from all fifteen players who take the field. We've put ourselves into this corner and it's now up to us to get ourselves out of it," he said.

Last year, Glenswilly found themselves in a similar position, beating Gaoth Dobhair in the relegation play-off to preserve their top flight status.

"It's been difficult to keep the lads going at training. We've had a difficult year, both on and off the pitch, and a win on Saturday would be a nice way to finish the year," he said.