We have now had three rounds of the Donegal Senior Football Championship, and I feel it’s starting to take shape.

Things will move up a gear or two when the knock-out championship begins but for me St Eunan’s are the team to beat with Naomh Conaill in close pursuit.

I’d have four teams in the chasing pack after that, and can’t see a winner coming from outside those six.

St Eunan’s were impressive in their win over Aodh Ruadh in Round 2 but less so against St Naul’s last week.

Maybe it was a game they felt they were always going to win but they didn’t really kill it off.

St Eunan’s will face Termon in their last match and a win in that could see them go straight through to the quarter-finals but maybe an extra match would do them no harm.

Shane O’Donnell only came on at the end of the St Naul’s match and St Eunan’s will need Shane in good form if they are to retain the Dr Maguire Cup.

Naomh Conaill have found the going tough enough so far and we will know more when they take on Downings this week.

The loss of Ciaran Thompson to a partial ACL tear is really tough on Ciaran and his club.

Ethan O’Donnell is back in the country and that’s a real lift for Naomh Conaill. I’d expect them to win on Sunday and they will be a force when they get their best team out on the field.

St Michael’s have impressed me with wins over Glenfin and Termon.

They were off the pace in Round 1 but didn’t have Michael Langan that day.

St Michael’s are a physical side who don’t give up many scores and with Michael, Daniel McLaughlin and Carlos O’Reilly, they have got scores in their team.

Gaoth Dobhair have three wins from their three games.

They were probably a bit underwhelming against Aodh Ruadh last week but their younger players do appear to be giving a bit more this year.

Their next game is against Sean MacCumhaills and that will be a good one.

MacCumhaills are going really well and are playing a fast and exciting brand of football.

Oisin Gallen is leading the line superbly and it looks like club teams are going to have huge difficulty in keeping him quiet.

Kevin McCormack, Sean Martin, Jamie Keegan and Sean Martin are all going very well.

The one thing I would say about MacCumhaills is that they played St Michael’s without Langan, and Glenswilly without Michael Murphy.

At some stage they are going to come across a forward line that is going to ask questions of their defence, and we will learn more about them then.

Dungloe are the other side that are really motoring well with three wins and I’d say Dessie Gallagher is delighted with their form.

Luke Clerkin has had an injury-ravaged 18 months but he’s been excellent over the last couple of weeks. Dungloe will need Karl Magee fit and firing but they’ll be a hard team to stop.

After that, the likes of Four Masters and Kilcar will cause teams problems and might take a scalp or two but I can’t see them going all the way.

Glenswilly are doing ok with a young team and they are competitive but they don’t carry the same fear factor when Michael Murphy isn’t playing.

At the other end of the table, it’s hard to say who might drop down.

St Naul’s, Glenfin, and Aodh Ruadh have no points to their names yet but they’ll still feel they can stay up.

I would be a bit worried for St Naul’s because they have been in the relegation play-off final in the last couple of years and you’ll eventually drop down if you’re there enough. However, if they can get Stephen Griffin back fit that would make a huge difference.

Intermediate

The Intermediate Championship has been quite interesting so far.

The big surprise for me is that Buncrana have only won one of their three matches.

They have Caolan McGonagle back this year and he has been playing some great football for them.

But for some reason, Buncrana seems to be losing a lot of close matches.

They probably haven’t been helped by the mini-Inishowen league that came their way.

Gary Duffy’s men lost to Malin then beat Burt but were defeated by Naomh Pádraig, Uisce Chaoin last week.

Now they have a huge game with Fanad coming up and it would be a major disappointment for Buncrana if they don’t make the knock-out stages.

Naomh Columba have been the stand-out team so far. They proved far too good for my own Na Rossa who are struggling at the moment and were without eight players who featured against Milford the previous week.

Glen have players back available from last year and have a stronger look to their team.

They’ll have to show they can handle the pressure in O’Donnell Park but for me, they are the team to stop.

Naomh Muire aren’t that far off while Bundoran are building a wee bit of momentum.

Red Hughs suffered their first defeat last week but they didn’t have Stephen McMenamin available. Milford put in a good performance and they could be a team to keep an eye on in the knock-out stages.

Another side who are motoring well are Naomh Pádraig, Uisce Chaoin.

Could they win the Intermediate 12 months after winning the Junior?

They’ll be saying why not and I don’t think they’ll fear anyone in the competition.

Junior

Carndonagh passed another test in the Junior Championship with flying colours on Sunday when they defeated Letterkenny Gaels.

It was a potential banana skin match with Ronan Frain back for the Gaels and he was in good form.

There was only one point in it after 45 minutes but Carn kicked on in the final quarter.

The likes of Naomh Ultan and Letterkenny Gaels have shown that they can stick with the Inishowen men for a certain period of time but over the course of an hour, it’s hard to see who is going to have the strength and fitness to stop Carndonagh.

There are different scales to the Junior Championship and some teams will struggle to compete with the top sides.

However, it is good to see Robert Emmets and Pettigo picking up results.

I saw Pettigo playing in Dooey a couple of weeks ago and I was impressed.

They were definitely the most organised Pettigo team I had seen with plenty of good players on show. They pushed their neighbours Naomh Bríd quite close two weeks ago as well.

Sean O’Donnell

I was very sorry to hear of the death of Sean O’Donnell this week.

I knew Sean for a long time and he was a gentleman and a great gael.

I would have spent many days out with Sean and his great friend Michael Duddy in the early 2000s heading off to watch matches.

Sean was always great company and a knowledgeable GAA man.

I never saw him play but by all accounts he was ahead of his time as an attacking wing-back and he had a distinguished playing career with Dungloe, Donegal, and Ulster.

He also managed the county team and took Donegal to the Ulster Final in 1979 but unfortunately Monaghan won that day.

Sean will be sorely missed and I pass on my condolences to his family and clubmates.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.