Home Farm DCU have got off to a flying start in the FAI National League’s inaugural season and hope to keep building for the future.

Despite kicking off the tournament with three consecutive away fixtures, Home Farm DCU have found themselves top of their group heading into Round 5.

While some would see three weekends of travelling a tough feat, Home Farm DCU manager Gavin Peers sees it as valuable bonding time for his team. He says, “Playing away helped build the team atmosphere because of the bus journeys, the long journeys and it was good.

“The hospitality from the opposition has been good, it’s allowed us to eat after a game, it’s built that camaraderie together so that’s been the most beneficial thing with the away games.”

While Peers’ opening fixtures look impressive on paper, it wasn’t all straightforward with players entering the tournament late and with some details needing adjusting.

Speaking on these adjustments along the way, Peers says, “The shape of my team, I started off with a 3-4-3 and I quickly noticed that the team suited a 4-2-3-1 and then different players started coming in late so that sort of shifted it.”

These changes aside, Peers speaks highly of his side and explains how his job as manager isn’t made easy with the competition for places on the pitch. He says, “I’m really happy with my squad to be honest. I’ve been working hard getting the players in and I’m really happy with the squad and it’s starting to come together now, we have a good mix of experience.”

“It’s a headache for me because the players that we’re leaving out are good and should really be playing so it’s a headache for me to pick the squad and especially in a squad that’s a strong enough group and now we want to continue on getting good results.”

Entering a new league can be daunting with the competition between teams being as tight as ever so having experience in your team is priceless. Peers highlights this and says, “I think it’s important to have the Leinster Senior League lads involved in it as well because they know what the club means and they would have felt hard done by if they didn’t have the option to come into it.

“You have that DNA of Home Farm there and obviously they’ve been through it and obviously did really well last year with nearly being promoted and getting into the Intermediate Cup quarter finals”

Looking ahead to this weekend’s fixture against Cockhill Celtic, Peers can feel the excitement within the club with it being their first ever home fixture in the FAI National League. He says, “The club are working hard behind the scenes to get everything ready and I’m looking forward to it and the players are looking forward to it and the club are looking forward to it too.

“It’s about building a fan base really and there will be a lot of family and friends there and I think a lot from the area might come in because there’s no League of Ireland games on so you might get people coming in on a Saturday to enjoy the game.”

This is not the first time Home Farm DCU have faced Cockhill Celtic with two late goals giving them the edge the first time around and Peers is very much aware of how eager his squad is to play in this rematch with confidence grown in their set-up on the pitch and squad depth keeping the hunger growing.

He says, “It’s our first home game so the lads want to play, they’re hungry to get into the team and it’s pushing everybody on. So for me it’s about fighting for places now so if someone isn’t up to the mark we have players ready to step in.”

Looking ahead to the future of the club, Peers is eager to keep the competitive nature strong and push his players to their full potential to become irreplaceable members of his squad. He says, “It’s going in the right way so for me it’s just to keep building and aim towards next year.

“It’s a strong squad so you want to hold everybody so to build on next year. Obviously you’re going to want to take some people in but the squad there if they do well they have their spot.”