We have reached the semi-final stage of the Donegal Senior Football Championship and I don’t think too many people would have predicted the four teams that are left standing before a ball was kicked in August.

It has been an entertaining championship and Naomh Conaill were very close to seeing their championship brought to a halt last Sunday before staging a dramatic comeback against Termon.

In terms of quality, I don’t know if the top teams are quite at the level that they were before.

It feels much more even now and the new rules are helping with the spectacle.

You look at the tallies Kilcar (1-10) and Dungloe (0-10) put up last week in the quarter-finals and it’s just not getting the job done anymore.

The days of 0-8 to 0-7 bores appear to be behind us.

The Termon v Naomh Conaill match was the best game of last weekend and there was a great atmosphere as the Burn Road men chased another big win after knocking St Eunan’s out the previous week.

Termon were going well and had a glorious chance to kill off the match with a palmed effort that went over the bar.

Still, they were six points up and should have seen it out.

Anthony Thompson rolled back the years for Naomh Conaill but it was their young players that led the charge.

Max Campbell, who has a bright future ahead of him, scored a goal and Finnbarr Roarty then hit the winning point. Roarty has really carried on from where he left off during the intercounty season.

Naomh Conaill will now take on Four Masters, who proved too strong for Dungloe last week.

It was close for three-quarters of the match but Dungloe lost their way in the last 15 minutes.

Four Masters will take confidence from the result. They dominated the second half with Turlough Carr, Kevin Muldoon and Paddy Reid particularly impressive.

I had Dylan Kennedy with the county minors back in 2015, and he is adding steel at full-back.

Four Masters have loads of speed and athleticism and if it’s a good day on Sunday, they will cause problems at O’Donnell Park.

They have nothing to lose and will go after it hard.

There’s a North West derby on Saturday with Gaoth Dobhair taking on St Michael’s.

Gaoth Dobhair have momentum and they were good value for their win over Kilcar in Glenties.

Kilcar started very well but Gaoth Dobhair really got to grips with the match in the second half.

Ethan Harkin is having a big championship and kicked some great scores.

Gary McFadden is solid at full-back while they are doing well at midfield, and their half-forward line of Fionnan Coyle, Daire Ó Baoill, Micheal Roarty has been excellent.

I think they could still get a bit more from Odhrán Mac Niallais. There’s no doubting his quality but he hasn’t hit top gear yet.

I was surprised that St Michael’s were so comfortable against MacCumhaills.

Oisin Gallen and Kevin McCormick didn’t play in attack and MacCumhaills just didn’t have the strength-in-depth.

St Michael’s didn’t have Daniel McLaughlin but when you have Michael Langan in your team you’ll always be in with a chance.

Michael can do it all and scored ten points last week.

Much of Gaoth Dobhair’s thinking this week will be regarding how to negate Michael’s influence.

It’s not an easy task and you can’t allow the likes of Colin McFadden and Carlos O’Reilly to get too much room.

I think we could have two exciting semi-finals and you might have extra-time in at least one, but by Monday morning I think we could be looking forward to a Gaoth Dobhair v Naomh Conaill final.

Intermediate

We now know that the Intermediate final will be Malin against Naomh Columba and I think that will be a good game.

Glen have been the form team in the championship.

They have won all of their matches and had a good win over Red Hughs last week.

They did make hard work of it as they conceded 3-10 but they scored 2-18 themselves.

Shane Callaghan, who played for the Donegal U20s this year, is really finding his feet and they have a lot of solid players like Aaron Doherty, Philip Doherty and Paddy Byrne.

There was a surprise in the other semi-final as Naomh Muire lost out to Malin in Termon.

I saw Naomh Muire in their first match and they weren’t at their best that evening and struggled to lift things.

That said, they will be disappointed with the manner of some of the goals they conceded at the weekend.

They will be in Division 1 next year and that exposure to top level football might help them when it comes to the championship.

Malin have a much younger side this year but they are tough and have come through with some excellent results in the championship.

They’ll probably start the final as underdogs but won’t be going to make up the numbers.

Junior

I said before the Junior Championship got underway that it was Carndonagh’s to lose and nothing that has happened since has changed my mind on that.

Carn have a good team and a couple of young players have come and added to the mix this season.

I was over Na Rossa two years ago when we beat Convoy in the semi-final.

Paddy Dolan and Joe McGill have moved on since then and it’s hard to replace scoring forwards.

Convoy’s squad is stretched now and while I think they will be competitive against Carn, I feel the Inishowen men will probably be too strong.

Letterkenny Gaels will take on Naomh Bríd at the Cross and this should be a tight match.

It’s been a good while since Naomh Bríd were pushing to win a championship but they have had a good run this year and have some exciting forwards coming through.

Letterkenny Gaels had an underwhelming league but they are a much more potent side now that Ronan Frain and Conor McBrearty are back in the team.

If Gaels can get the ball to that duo enough, it’s hard to see how Naomh Bríd will stop them.

I think it will be a Gaels v Carn final, which will be a repeat of the 2022 Junior decider.

McKenna Cup

It looks like the McKenna Cup will be played again in 2026 and I think that is welcome news.

I never really understood the logic in shelving the pre-season competitions.

They bring in good money for the provincial councils, and people are keen to go out and watch the action.

Depending on how your county champions get on in the province, it could be two months since fans have seen top-level football up close, and they are keen to get out and watch the action again.

As we saw last year, it’s not like teams aren’t playing games.

They were organising challenge games among themselves so they may as well be properly regulated.

The National Leagues are particularly important for teams in Division 2 and Division 3 who want to be in the race for the Sam Maguire, so a couple of good competitive matches should have teams ready when the action gets underway at the end of January.

It’s also a good chance for young players to get exposure to intercounty football when it isn’t hugely pressurised.

I’m looking forward to it and I’d imagine we will see good crowds at the action throughout Ulster.