IT’S DOWN to the serious business now in the Donegal Senior Football Championship and it’s probably no great surprise that St Eunan’s, Gaoth Dobhair, Glenswilly, and Naomh Conaill are the four teams remaining.
They are four of the last five winners of the championship along with Kilcar and have generally been in the mix for honours at underage level over the last ten to 15 years.
Four Masters and Sean MacCumhaills will be frustrated that they haven’t made it to this stage.
I do think the format of the championship plays into the hands of the stronger teams.
They can afford one bad day out, maybe even two, in the group stages and still make their way through to the latter stages.
It’s difficult to know what to make of St Eunan’s.
They looked very good in the first half against Dungloe but I felt the Rosses men lacked aggression and sat too far off.
St Eunan’s did play some nice football but they were outscored in the second half by 11 points.
Complacency probably came into it when they were so far in front, and with the exception of the draw with Sean MacCumhaills, they have won all their games easily.
Gaoth Dobhair claimed another good win over Sean MacCumhaills and after a slow start, they really got into their groove.
They are in the last four now and nobody is really talking them up which will suit Gaoth Dobhair.
They definitely had a lack of consistency with their team selection earlier in the year but they are starting to piece it together now.
They are really only missing Eamonn McBride, Micheal Roarty and Niall Friel from last year now.
Odhrán Mac Niallais hasn’t played much football this year but he’s back now and it will be interesting to see what they get out of him on Saturday.
I’d expect Ciaran Moore and Niall O’Donnell to be in the starting line-up for St Eunan’s for the match.
There’s no room for error and you need your best men on the field.
It’s a really hard game to call but I would give St Eunan’s a slight edge.
Naomh Conaill didn’t have it all their own way against Kilcar but two great goals from Shea Malone sent them clear.
Glenswilly had it a lot easier than people expected against St Michael’s.
Michael Langan’s injury was a huge blow and everyone will be hoping he isn’t sidelined for long.
I’m looking forward to seeing how Glenswilly perform against Naomh Conaill.
They are not huge in the middle but Kealan Dunleavy in particular competes really well. However, with Ciaran Thompson and Kieran Gallagher out there, it should be an area of strength for Naomh Conaill.
Jeaic Mac Ceallabhui will be pushing hard for a place in the starting line-up now and young Daithi Molloy is starting to look the part.
The burning question this week is who will Naomh Conaill put on Michael Murphy?
I’d love to see Finnbarr Roarty go in against Murphy but it’s unlikely. His brother Shean is an option.
I think it’s more likely that AJ Gallagher will be recalled to go in at full-back for his physicality and experience.
You can be sure Martin Regan and his management team will give it plenty of thought.
You can never rule out a team containing Michael Murphy as he could score 1-7 or 1-8.
But I think by this time next week we will be gearing up for a St Eunan’s v Naomh Conaill final.
Intermediate
We now know the Intermediate finalists, with Naomh Pádraig Uisce Chaoin and Carndonagh winning their respective semi-finals last week.
Muff ran out comfortable enough winners against Burt on Saturday evening.
Carndonagh then claimed a big derby victory over Malin on the Sunday.
It’s interesting that it’s a repeat of the Junior ‘A’ Championship final from two years ago which Naomh Pádraig won easily.
However, Carn bounced back to win it the following year.
Both sides have lost some players since then but they have also added in a bit of youth.
Cillian Doyle is going well in the Naomh Pádraig forward line, while Kalvin McLaughlin has been going well at midfield for Carndonagh.
There’s been some feisty clashes between the two clubs in recent years so it should be a final to really look forward to.
Junior
My own club Na Rossa are back in a Junior Championship Final after beating Letterkenny Gaels last Saturday.
It took a big performance to beat a highly-rated Gaels side.
There was a good championship bite to the match and the fact that it was played in Glenswilly really added to the occasion and they deserve great credit for the fine facilities they have developed.
We will take on Urris in the final after they got the better of Naomh Ultan on Sunday.
I was at that match and I was very impressed with Urris who have some excellent forwards.
I don’t think too many people would have predicted an Urris v Na Rossa Final two months ago.
We were having a turbulent year up until that and Urris probably had an up-and-down league.
But we both appear to have found momentum at just the right time and I think we could be in store for a cracking final.
Fitzmaurice
The big news nationally this week is that Eamonn Fitzmaurice appears in line to take the Galway job.
It’s quite the coup for Galway if it happens and shows the appeal of their county team.
Fitzmaurice managed Kerry to the All-Ireland in 2014 and has since gone on to prove himself as an excellent analyst on TV.
He’s still a young man and people would have felt he would definitely have gone in to manage Kerry again.
Maybe he sees the likes of Tomas Ó Se and Kieran Donaghy in the queue in front of him and thinks this is too good of an opportunity to turn down.
Galway lost the 2022 and 2024 All-Ireland Finals but have been eliminated at the quarter-final stage in each of the last two seasons.
They appear to tick most of the boxes with good defenders, one of the best midfields in the country and talented forwards.
There are issues to iron out such as the goalkeeper and it will be interesting to see what pathway he takes with the team if appointed.
Birthday
I would like to finish off this week’s column by wishing my mother, Bridie, a big happy birthday as she turns 100 today (Thursday).
She was born on the first of October in 1926, and thankfully is still going strong.
She is a great woman and it’s a brilliant milestone to reach.
