The great Dundela rebuild
Lauren McCann
Dundela fans could have been forgiven for dreaming that this is the season they finally win promotion back to the Irish Premiership.
The Duns started the campaign in fine form, but this led to the bigger clubs in the Premiership sitting up and taking notice.
As soon as the January transfer window opened, they swooped in like vultures to take the club’s prized assets mid-season, without a crumb of compensation due to the fact that Dundela’s players are on amateur contracts.
As a result, this January transfer window has been bruising and chaotic for Dundela. Wilgar Park become a revolving door of arrivals and departures, seven players left and 10 arrived.
The mass overhaul of players in such a short space of time may have derailed the club’s best chance in several years to make it to the big time.
Yet, there was not much Dundela could do to prevent seven of their regular starting eleven from moving on, as they all made the jump to the Premiership.
The mass exodus can be traced back to manager Niall Currie’s departure to Portadown. Dundela reluctantly let him leave after a stellar spell in charge, which lasted just over a year and saw him transform their fortunes from relegation favourites to promotion challengers.
His return to the Ports has been catalyst for several deals which followed in January and saw the dismantlement of a settled squad at Dundela.
Following Currie to Shamrock Park, where he hopes to pull off a great escape and keep the Ports in the division, were striker Benny Igiehon along with defenders Christopher Rodgers and Lee Chapman as well as Eoghan McCawl.
Eamon Fyfe also departed at the start of the window to join Coleraine, whilst two exciting prospects; Rhys Annett and Ryan McKay made the switch to full time football with Linfield at just 18 years old.
The loss of both Fyfe and Annett have arguably hit Dundela the hardest. Both forwards had seven goals before the departing, by far the most in the Dundela squad.
The Duns have since struggled in their absence in an attacking sense, netting just three goals so far in 2023.
Paul Harbinson, who took over as manager when Currie moved to Portadown in November, when Dundela sat second in the table, has had the unenviable task of trying to rebuild a competitive squad solely using the loan market, which can continue to challenge at the top of the table.
They are currently fourth in the table, 11 points behind leaders Loughall with a game in hand. Winning the league looks out of their hands now, but challenging for the promotion play-off place is still in their sights.
As to be expected, they have had mixed results in January, recording two big wins against Loughall and Institute amidst the upheaval, whilst suffering a heavy loss to Annagh and drawing with Dergview.
They will hope to string a run of wins together with a kind fixture list before the split against teams in the bottom half of the table, to really push those teams above them.
Formerly a coach with Ballymena U20s, Harbinson has a good reputation for developing young players, something which he enhanced whilst manager of Ballyclare Comrades.
As a result, a number of Premiership sides have sent their best young talents on loan to Wilgar Park, hoping they can take the next step in their development and thrive in senior football.
Equally Dundela will hope that these players can hit the ground running and propel them up the table before they begin a full rebuild in the summer.
Glentoran loaned Johnny Russell, Josh Stewart and Bailey Locke, with Dundela hoping striker Stewart can help fill the void left by Annett.
Jake Corbett, who scored his first goal for the club against Dergview last weekend and goalkeeper Sam Johnston, who impressed in the Irish Cup loss to Cliftonville, have come in from Ballymena until the end of the season.
Carrick have granted Aodhan Gillen and Peter McKiernan temporary switches to the East Belfast side which should boost their forward line, with Gillen in particular an exciting prospect who was integral to Newington winning promotion to the Championship last season.
Harbinson has also been able to add some much needed experience to his squad. James Ferrin was added to the squad along with Jonah Mitchell on loan from Portadown, a good technical midfielder who hasn’t quite been able to show the consistency required to start in the Premiership.
Arguably their biggest coup, however, has been the free signing of former Glenavon midfielder Andy Hall, a quality operator who has been plagued by injuries in recent years.
As it would happen he suffered another one recently, which will rule him out for a few weeks, much to the frustration of Harbinson, who has had to contend with a number of injuries recently, a further disruption as he tries to bed in a host of new players.
Dundela had the right blend of youth and experience at the start of the season which enabled them fly high at the top end of the table.
Harbinson will be hoping to emulate that success in the second half of the campaign, and if he manages to do so after such a busy January, his reputation and Dundela’s stock as a club which develops talent, will only enhance tenfold.
Lauren McCann is the Scoop’s Sport Editor and an English and Spanish student at Queen’s University Belfast.