BY RYAN FERRY

SINCE he first started kicking a ball, Oisin Gallen had been a go-to man in attack and he will fill that role once again in Croke Park on Sunday afternoon.

It’s a pressure that rests easy on the shoulders of the flame-haired Ballybofey man.

This is his seventh season playing with Donegal, and as a 2024 All-Star, he has proven that he can deliver for his county.

Sharing the family nickname of ‘Farrah’, Oisin is a huge fan’s favourite among the Donegal faithful.

Many of the skills he displays today on a consistent level were on show during his formative days as an eager youngster with Sean MacCumhaills according to his underage coach, Luke Gavigan Snr.

“I took over those 1999, 2000, and 2001 group of kids when they were under 8s, and at that time the club’s underage structures weren’t great,” Gavigan explained.

“We were lucky that we got a nice group of young fellas together at the same time.

“We started on the field and then we went to the Finn Valley Centre and kept it going all winter.

“Oisin as an eight, nine, ten, eleven year-old was probably not as fit as he could have been but he always had the skills.

“He always was competent off both feet and there was a group of players that progressed together and were very successful at MacCumhaills at U12, U13, and U15s, and we represented Donegal in 2014 as the feile team and were narrowly beaten in a semi-final.

“Oisin was always our go-to man as a full-forward and if we could get the ball into him, he would turn and score off right or left foot.

“He practised more and more and as time progressed he got better and better.”

Oisin’s parents Sean and Geraldine are well known in the Twin Towns and Gavigan says they were always present on the good days and the challenging.

Oisín Gallen, who stars in the new Game Changer campaign.

“His family were always very supportive of Oisin and his brothers (Eoin, Cian, and Liam) and still are.

“Sean wouldn’t have went to Dublin on the Saturday night before the Meath game because he would have missed the MacCumhaills match with Buncrana.

“They have supported their kids the whole way through, and I have to mention their granda (John McGinty) as well.

“It takes all the supports from family, coaches, schools, communities to help the elite players get to the top.

“You couldn’t meet a nicer family and whether it’s gaelic or soccer or rugby or basketball or hurling, if you go into Sean to get your haircut, you could touch on it all.

“They’ve really backed Oisin and it’s a great honour for them.”

Gavigan was the Buncrana Cup manager when Gallen represented the Donegal Under 16 side.

The following season he was part of the Donegal minor panel a year out of his age group.

The grades were then changed and Gallen was with the Donegal Under 20s in 2018 and made a huge impression later that year when he helped Sean MacCumhaills progress through to the last four of the Senior Championship.

That brought him to the attention of Donegal senior manager, Declan Bonner but Gary Boyle, who was a coach at the time, admits that Gallen’s rapid progress did come as an initial surprise but that they soon couldn’t leave him out of games.

“He was very good that year for his club in the championship,” says Boyle.

“Gary McDaid was managing the Under 20s at the time, and we had a number of his players up training with us over the winter.

“It was only meant to be for a few weeks really but he ended up staying in the panel.

“He was an inside forward and he was just brilliant at training.

“I think the rule at that time was if you played senior, you couldn’t play with your own age group. It’s changed since but he ended up playing in the McKenna Cup and the league.

“Once he got into the training environment, he just took to it very well.

“From a football point of view, the talent was there and his movement was very natural.

“And from a coaching perspective when he came on, we nearly just left him at it.

“In Donegal we probably haven’t produced a massive amount of inside forwards who are comfortable in playing close to goal but Oisin is very happy in there.

“We actually lost a game down against Tipperary but he got in and played very well and he stayed in after that.

“(Patrick) McBrearty had done the cruciate in the Ulster Final the previous year, so we probably needed someone and he stepped up.

“I think he realised around that time even though he was very young that he was good enough to be there and he really knuckled down and decided that he wanted to play for Donegal for the next ten or 12 years, and he embraced everything that he needed to do off the field.”

Boyle recalls Gallen’s first appearance in Croke Park and how he quickly learned it would take a lot to disrupt the forward.

“I remember when we played Meath in the Division 2 League Final in 2019.

“About 20 or 25 minutes before throw-in he had an issue with his boot, and the kitmen were starting to panic.

“The team were ready and Oisin wasn’t but it didn’t bother him at all. He just took it in his stride.

“He was the calmest man there. He landed out for the warm-up late but it didn’t bother
him but he went on to have an outstanding game.”

Injuries were to play a part in the years that followed for Gallen and that was frustrating.

He was sidelined for the Ulster Final defeats against Cavan and Derry when he certainly could have made a difference.

There was a case of bad luck at the wrong time and he actually played regular club championship for MacCumhaills.

Things didn’t go particularly well for Donegal during the 2023 season but it was a significant breakthrough campaign for Gallen.

There was time spent on the treatment table during the league but by the time the All-Ireland Series came, he was leading the line and in electric form. Donegal didn’t reach the last eight but there was an All Star nomination for Gallen.

Donegal’s Oisín Gallen looks to get his pass away to Michael Langan during the Down game. Photo Evan Logan

“Oisin has always had piles of talent,” said Paddy Bradley, who was a coach in 2023 with Paddy Carr and then Aidan O’Rourke.

“He had a bad run of injuries but thankfully over the last two years he’s had a good two years.

“But even at that season we were in, you were in tenterhooks all the time.

“Antoin McFadden and the physio team had to manage what he was doing between games because we really needed him as were missing Paddy (McBrearty) and (Michael) Langan, and (Michael) Murphy and the O’Donnells (Shane and Niall) weren’t there.

“But in terms of responsibility, he really stepped it up for us.

“The big game that springs to mind was the one against Derry in Ballybofey.

“Chrissy (McKaigue) was probably at the peak of his powers in terms of man-marking and shutting forwards out, but Oisin gave him the run around that day.

“I always rated him since he broke through but sometimes when players are struck down with injuries, you just wonder if they will ever get there.

“Maybe that year when Paddy and Michael weren’t there, he was the main man and it suited him but he has kicked on again since that.”

Gallen has started to rediscover his best form in recent weeks. He scored four points in the Ulster Final, five against Louth, three in the win over Monaghan and then bagged 1-2 against Meath.

Michael Murphy, Conor O’Donnell and McBrearty are all going well at the moment, and Bradley feels Kerry will have to get their match-ups right.

“You look at the opposite side of the coin with how Tyrone matched up on Kerry.

“They kept Paudie Clifford and Sean O’Shea quiet but then obviously David did all the damage.

“Donegal have a lot of threats and you wonder can Kerry handle them all. Murphy is there, Conor O’Donnell is flying, and ‘Farrah’ has to be watched.

“He’s maybe not set the world alight like he did last year but he’s still getting three, four, five scores in a lot of games.

“If Kerry don’t give him the respect he deserves or get the match-up right, he could crucify them and win the game for Donegal.”

The Sean MacCumhaills club are rightly proud of their All-Star and Gavigan has nothing but good things to say about their leading man.

“The stand-out thing for me with Oisin is that he’s a very humble person.

“He’s nice and quiet and there was never any ‘oul mouthing or anything like that.

“He’s taken plenty of abuse but he just gets on with it.

“That likeable factor is standing to him very well and for me he has the potential to go on to be captain of Donegal someday.

“He’s a great leader on the field and brings other people with him.

“You’ll never walk down the town of Ballybofey where he won’t stop for a chat, and he is very appreciative of people who have helped him.

“I really hope things go well for him on Sunday because he deserves it.”