It’s county final weekend and it is a strange one as it is not in MacCumhaill Park.

The St Eunan’s club will host the final at O’Donnell Park and I’m sure there will be a big crowd and a great atmosphere.

I remember playing in an Under 12 County Final back in 1977 for Rosses Rovers at O’Donnell Park.

At that stage the Under 12 Final was played ahead of the senior decider, and it was MacCumhaills against Gaoth Dobhair that year.

Rosses Rovers played Gaoth Dobhair in the Under 12 Final and we won by 4-6 to 2-3.

I was lucky enough to have a bit of success after that but you always remember those underage victories with fondness.

Gaoth Dobhair and Naomh Conaill both have two teams playing on Sunday, and they’ll both be aiming for the perfect double.

The bookies are usually a good enough judge and they are calling it an evens game, so it’s undoubtedly a hard one to call.

I can’t see either team winning comfortably. I think the trophy will be on the line right up until the closing moments.

Gaoth Dobhair definitely appears to have that edge back this year and they are coming good at the right time.

They’ve lost a lot of players down through the years but Niall Friel will be involved this weekend and that will be good for the group as Niall is a great fella and a fine leader.

Odhrán Mac Niallais is coming into form, and for me, he’s one of the most gifted players to play gaelic football in this county.

His craft and know-how will be key especially as Gaoth Dobhair have a lot of young players in their team. They have won at Under 21 level and that’s a good barometer but there’s greater pressure on in a senior final.

Daire Ó Baoill is a massive presence for Gaoth Dobhair and it will be interesting to see who picks him up. I’d say most spectators would love to see a one-on-one duel with Finnbarr Roarty but it might not play out like that.

Gary McFadden will be tasked with snuffing out one of the Naomh Conaill forwards, and he’s as solid as they come. If Eoghan McGettigan is fit to play, I expect Gary to take him up.

Gaoth Dobhair have won all their games to date whereas Glenties have lost two.

Have Gaoth Dobhair had a tougher route or have Naomh Conaill just made life challenging for themselves? It’s hard to say.

They have had their backs to the wall against Termon and Four Masters and still found a way to win which is a really good sign of a team.

I’ve been very impressed with Naomh Conaill’s three young lads – Roarty, Max Campbell, and Shea Malone – who are giving them massive energy and I expect them to perform again this weekend.

It’s the biggest test that both teams will have faced this season.

They’re both well organised and there won’t be anything going easy.

I don’t expect a classic but teams can’t afford to play it too safe these days, especially with the two-pointers now in play.

Shea Malone is kicking well and Brendy McDyer and Brick Molloy can score from range. For Gaoth Dobhair, Ethan Harkin and Micheal Roarty have been very consistent around the arc. Daire is a big threat as well and Gaoth Dobhair are going to need Odhrán Mac Niallais to bring the shooting boots.

It will be a tight game that will go down to the wire but I just feel Naomh Conaill’s experience might stand to them and I expect that they will edge it.

Junior

The Junior final takes place on Saturday when Carndonagh take on Letterkenny Gaels.

Carn have been banging on the door for the last couple of years.

I’ve fancied them from day one to win this championship in 2025.

They have to be hurting from the way they played against Muff last season.

The only way to put that right is by going and winning the final the following season.

Now they are there and in case they are short a wee bit of motivation they are taking on Letterkenny Gaels, who beat them in the final three years ago.

It’s been a tough couple of seasons for Gaels but Aidy Glackin has managed to steady them up again.

They have a couple of good underage players coming in the next few years which will help them.

But it’s all about the here and now and Gaels will feel they can take the win in this match.

When they have everyone available, they are a good unit.

Ronan Frain and Conor McBrearty are excellent players and they will really need to produce the goods.

But I just expect Carn to have too much.

Conor O’Donnell hasn’t set the world alight in the championship but on a big, wide pitch, Gaels will do well to stop him.

Conor is heading towards an All Star and it would cap a good season if he could win a championship medal as well.

Intermediate

Naomh Columba finally got over the line last week in the Intermediate final when they ran out convincing winners over Malin.

I hadn’t quite realised the bad run that Naomh Columba were on.

They had lost five senior finals and three intermediate deciders since they had last brought a championship back to Glemcolmcille.

The current team had lost two finals on days when they just didn’t perform.

However, you could sense from early in the final that it was going to be different this time.

They were eight points up at half-time and with their running power, it was always going to be hard for Malin.

They had no choice but to push out but that suited the slick Glen side.

In truth, they were very convincing winners of the Intermediate this season.

Buncrana asked them some questions in the quarter-final but other than that, Glen were able to cruise through most of their games.

They go into Ulster now and have a tough draw away to the Monaghan champions.

Monaghan only has ten senior sides so their intermediate champions are always useful.

They have a long gap of five weeks as well but that allows time for some celebrating and a break.

Naomh Columba have been hit by emigration but this team has stuck together.

Paddy Byrne and Paul O’Hare were excellent throughout the campaign while Aaron Doherty, Philip Doherty and Ryan Gillespie were in good form, and in Shane Callaghan and Alex Cunnea, they have two promising young players.

They’ll go into senior football in 2026 and the big task now is to try and keep the team together.

If they can do that, they’ll hold their own, and Glen has always traditionally been a difficult place to go and get a result.

Malin didn’t show in the final but it was still a positive year for them.

They lost a lot of players from last season and maybe the final came a year or two too early.

Minors

It’s a really positive move that Karl Lacey will be managing the county minors in 2026.

I worked with Karl for three years when he was a coach with Donegal and he’s a top-class operator.

He went into Kilcoo as manager after that and brought them success as well.

He’s got good experience now and as I’ve said a lot over the last two years, we just couldn’t afford not to have Karl working with our Academy.

He has so much to offer and was working with the Donegal U16s last year so it’s definitely an exciting appointment.

Gary Boyle is staying on as Under 20 manager and that’s important.

The Under 20s were very unlucky not to win Ulster earlier this year but a lot of the players from that team impressed during the club championship.

I know a decent chunk of the group are underage again in 2026 so hopefully they will perform well.

Jim McGuinness is back in charge of Donegal for a third season and that’s of no great surprise.

He will naturally be disappointed with how the All-Ireland Final went.

But there is still a lot of potential within that group and they will be strong again in 2026.

One man he won’t have to worry about is Armagh’s ‘Soupy’ Campbell who has retired and he was a very influential player for the Orchard county for the last ten years.

Armagh will still be a dangerous team and there are a lot of good teams around the country.

Donegal will go away and enjoy their team holiday in a couple of weeks and then gear up for another big season ahead.