BY MATTHEW WILSON

Evan Broderick is delighted to be back onboard with the Fishermen club as they got their championship campaign off to a superb start at the weekend

The Fintra men ran out seven-point winners when they met Division 1 League champions Termon at Eamonn Byrne Memorial Park on Saturday evening.

It was a result that may have surprised a few but not Broderick who insists that the side can test the best in the county when they’ve everyone to choose from.

“It was a massive win. Termon were obviously moving well, they had a really successful league campaign and a good journey in the Gaeltacht as well but we were always confident on what we could do whenever we got a couple of people back into the fold.

“We know that when we get our best players consistently playing then we can play against the best in the county and we’d put ourselves up there, it’s just the case of us getting that done. We moved in confidently and thankfully got over the line.”

It was a rather inconsistent league campaign for Pauric Bonner’s outfit who concluded Division 2 in 12th place, winning five out of their 13 outings.

Despite the disappointment, Broderick is focusing on the positives to come from it in the form of three championship debutants.

Ben Conneely, Edward McHugh and Joe McGrory all gained valuable minutes in the senior squad throughout the Division 2 campaign. The trio have performed well and played key roles in the side’s victory over the Burn Road men last Saturday.

“It was disappointing in some respects but some of the unnoticed positives are three championship debutants coming out of it. Ben Conneely was starting corner-back, marking one of the best forwards in Donegal in Daire McDaid. Edward McHugh who wasn’t playing football at all for us 12 months ago is now a huge asset, and then Joe McGrory coming off the bench with loads of energy and potential are three huge wins.”

The Killybegs midfielder has just returned to the Emerald Isle having spent the year Down Under in Perth.

While located in Perth, Broderick linked up with the St Finnbarr’s Gaelic Football Club who recently won the league title.

However, the Killybegs man stated that it was always the plan to return to the red jersey for the championship.

“I’m loving it. It was always in the plans for me, about the only thing that could make me home sick is missing a Killybegs championship game. I was playing with St Finnbarr’s over in Australia who just won the league final last weekend so I was still playing consistently but the plan was always to come back. I’m delighted to be back and I’m just looking forward to an exciting time of year.”

Following their impressive victory last weekend, Pauric Bonner’s outfit travel to Rosses Park to face Division 2 League champions Dungloe this Saturday.

Dessie Gallagher’s men also enjoyed opening day success as they came away from Downings with the two points courtesy of a narrow victory over Maxi Curran’s side.

The pair haven’t faced each other in championship football in a number of years but Broderick is expecting a tough test when they make the journey to Dungloe’s own backyard this weekend.

“I don’t think we’ve played them in the championship since 2020 so a lot has changed since then. They’ve a similar age profile to ours and they all have experience of the big days with their journey last year so they’ll be confident but we also will be so we’ll be hoping for a solid championship game.”

It’s a massive opportunity for the Fishermen to get to four points on the board early on and it would serve a huge boost to their knockout football ambitions.

As mentioned by Evan, the side only gathered two points in the four group matches last time out, so to double that tally this early on would be massive for them.

“It would be a big boost. We only got two points last year, in our final game against St Naul’s. To go two better than that at game two would be massive for us and it’s just a solid platform to build on and that’s what we’re hoping to do.”