It’s good to be back! That was the over-riding feeling for the recently returned Max Campbell who played his first game for Naomh Conaill against Aodh Ruadh, in several weeks.
For he was one of four Naomh Conaill players who went Stateside along with Finnbarr Roarty, Mark McDevitt and Shea Malone, all of whom are expected to be available next week.
Campbell (19) came on and scored a point in his side’s impressive 0-25 to 1-13 win over Aodh Ruadh.
But until the weekend he was plying his trade with Donegal Boston.
“I just came back on Tuesday morning and I was playing with Donegal Boston.
“The Intermediates won their final and the seniors went out in the semi- final and I was playing for both, so I am happy out.
“That was my first time out there and it is a lot more open football as it is 13-a-side.
“It is a different ball game out there with the heat as well, but it was a good experience.”
Asked if he would like to repeat the Stateside experience, he said he would seriously consider it.
“But really there is no better place than home.
“I was out for about six weeks, and I was able to play tonight as my sanction was over.”
Asked if Malone, Roarty and McDevitt would be eligible to play next week, he said:
“Shea (Malone) and Mark (McDevitt) should be back next week, if all is good.
“Finnbarr (Roarty) is playing All-Americans this weekend so hopefully he will be back next weekend and he will be eligible to play next weekend.”
Naomh Conaill got a bit of a jolt against Downings in a scrambled draw last week, so coming to Ballyshannon was redemption day.
“We wanted to improve ourselves from last week and we got the win.
“Aodh Ruadh were very good in the opening half and created two very good goal chances and we talked about that at half time and needed to work on it, which we did.
“We came out with more intensity after the break and there were a good few two-pointers in the second half as we had a bit of a breeze.
“We knew that if we want to finish in the top four of the group, we needed a big win and got the two points.”