Loughgall star confident they can get even better after sensational Premiership return

The Villagers, who were promoted to the top-flight for the first time in 16 years prior to last term, comfortably preserved their spot in the league and were challenging for a top-half finish for long stretches of the campaign up until the split.

Attacking pair Benji Magee and Nathaniel Ferris were both mightily impressive, scoring 16 and 15 league goals respectively with the former named NIFWA Young Player of the Year for his exploits which have grabbed the attention of teams across the water.

Manager Dean Smith also celebrated individual success, collecting Manager of the Year, and the Lakeview Park outfit have already signed smartly during the summer transfer window with Conor Kerr, Conor McDermott and Nathan Gartside all arriving in County Armagh.

Loughgall enjoyed a superb season back in the Premiership. PIC: INPHO/Stephen Hamilton

They’ll be looking to build on a superb season come August and McAleer believes they’ve the ability to keep improving.

"We signed a few players and I'm sure there will be more coming in,” he said. “We've kept the majority of our players and we'll only get stronger.

"Nathaniel and Benji were both fantastic. Nathaniel is probably underrated compared to how good he is and Benji is an exciting young prospect that could go really far if he keeps his head down and keeps working hard."

While many were surprised by how comfortably Loughgall were able to take top-flight football in their stride, McAleer was always confident they could hit the ground running and it wasn’t a question of if Smith’s men could stay up, but how high could they finish.

"When you're playing with certain players and know what they can do, you know they're going to be hard to stop,” he added. “You know against other teams that we're strong enough and there are teams below you where you know they aren't going to catch you.

"We've good personnel there, the boys trained hard and nobody got carried away when we were in good form. I think once we got going I knew we were strong enough to stay up and it was about how high could we finish."

McAleer, who joined Loughgall for a second stint from Ballinamallard United last summer, made 23 Premiership appearances and scored in their final match of the season – a 4-1 victory over Newry City.

The 30-year-old has signed on for another season with the club and is excited for the challenge.

"Loughgall had a brilliant season,” he said. “Personally, I didn't play as much as I would have hoped with injury and a family wedding in Australia.

"It was a great season and they're a great bunch of lads. I'm excited for next season. I've signed on for another season which is what I wanted to do and I'm happy Dean wanted me for another year."