BY RYAN FERRY
THE Donegal Masters played out a feisty draw with Sligo in the All-Ireland Masters semi-final last week and more of the same is expected when the sides clash in the replay at Kinlough this Saturday.
It may be over 40s football but there was nothing held back in a physical encounter that finished level at the end of normal time.
That wasn’t the end of the drama as bizarrely three minutes of extra-time was played before the referee eventually decided that the teams would have to do it all over again.
The Masters Championship generally plays out with just some local media keeping an eye but last week’s semi-final garnered national media attention due to its unique conclusion.
Both sides will be happy enough to get another crack at reaching the decider where Tyrone lie in wait.
Gary Dunnion lined out at centre half-back last week for Donegal and the Sean MacCumhaills man has been a big addition to Eddie Crawford’s squad this season.
He has played a lot of football down through the years for his club but is still considered one of the fresher players as he has just become eligible for the team.
“This is my first year with the Masters,” Dunnion told the Donegal News.
“I’m forty now next month. The rule is that you can play in your fortieth year.
“I’m enjoying playing with the boys. It just gets to the stage that the club is too much commitment.
“I was playing senior up until the start of last year and then I hurt my knee and I needed an operation at the end of the season.
“I thought that would be that but then ‘Archie’ (Ruairi McLaughlin) our coach and Eddie (Crawford) the manager got onto me to come down to the Masters and I’m glad I did.
“It gives you something to look forward to when you’re in the last stages, or whatever way you want to call it.”
Dunnion has returned to play Reserve Championship for MacCumhaills in recent weeks and his good training with the Masters has stood to him.
He joked that is good to be on the same team as Shaun Maguire for a change as the Cloughaneely ace has given him and MacCumhaills plenty of hardship down through the years.
There’s no shortage of talent in the Donegal side and when they cross the white line, it’s all about winning.
“We have been training since January and there has been a good effort that has gone in.
“Last year they made the ‘C’ Final and there’s been a big push to try and get into the ‘A’ and we’re very happy with how far we have come.
“When you’re sitting back looking at it, you’re probably thinking it’s just old men playing and they’ll take it easy.
“But they are all still really quality players, they’re just getting on in life.
“They still have that drive to go out and play well. None of our training sessions have been too easy anyway”
“You need everybody. We’re lucky enough that we have a strong panel.
“You have some boys still playing senior and others with reserves and when you’re in with the club, you can’t get away all the time and then there’s family and work and everything else.
“It’s hard to get the same team out every week but it has stood to us that we have forty lads there who are willing to put in the effort.”
Donegal met Sligo in the group stages and came away with a 5-10 to 0-7 win in Fr Tierney Park.
However, it didn’t come as a surprise to Dunnion that things were much closer in the semi-final.
It was a game that could have went either way and Donegal needed late points from Benny Boyle and Donnacha Gallagher to force extra-time.
“We knew Sligo would be good.
“With the first game we played them in Ballyshannon, they were well on top in the first half.
“We were very good defensively and caught them a bit on the counter-attack.
“They didn’t have many subs that day and they kind of fell away in the second half.
“But we knew it would be a different story when we met them again and that proved to be the case.
“They are a very good running side and they never stopped the whole game.
“We were lucky enough. We got out of jail.”
The smart option with light fading was just to have a replay and that decision was eventually made but only after a six-minute extra-time period in which both sides scored once.
Dunnion said: “In fairness to the ref he was just going with what he was told on the phone call.
“He wanted to go straight to penalties but we didn’t agree to that and then he wanted five minutes each half but there was no time for it.
“They settled on three minutes but I never played in darker conditions.”
Tyrone have already booked their spot in the All-Ireland Final and they are chasing five-in-a-row this year.
They’ll be a difficult proposition in the final but Donegal would like to get a crack at them.
The team have invested a lot of time and effort into the season and it would be a testament to their efforts if they can see off Sligo by the Leitrim border.
“It would surely. That’s been our aim and we will see now how it goes.
“It’s great for boys our age to still be getting good competition and it would be great if we could make the final.”
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