NAOMH Conaill are looking to go one step further than last year and reach this season’s Under 21 ‘A’ Championship Final.
The Davy Brennan Memorial Park side famously reached eight Under 21 finals in-a-row towards the end of the noughties and the start of the 2010s, and that laid solid foundations that has helped their senior team to flourish.
They haven’t reached quite as many finals over the last decade but they are always there or thereabouts and team manager James ‘Plumber’ Boyle would love to see his team make it today.
“Gaoth Dobhair beat us in the semi last year. It would be lovely to get to the final this year. The Under 21s was our bread and butter for years and I took the team on then because we knew they were very young.
“I took John (O’Malley) and Eoin Waide in with me – two experienced senior men – and we just wanted to see how far we could get.
“I suppose after the first game (against Buncrana) we got a lesson, we should’ve beaten Ballyshannon by more and we probably should’ve beaten Termon and we ended up scraping a draw.
“We definitely aren’t shooting the lights out. I suppose we got the penalty (on Sunday) but we missed a lot of stuff that would have cost us on another day. We have a lot to work on too.”
Buncrana had swatted Naomh Conaill aside when they met on the opening day of the championship although Donegal Under 20 captain Finnbarr Roarty was absent that day.
Roarty was back for the quarter-final against Buncrana last week and Naomh Conaill’s running power helped them to a 2-7 to 1-5 triumph.
Boyle said: “We realised if we got into a physical battle with them then we’d lose it because they’re very, very strong.
“We worked on our own defensive space and lived on hitting on the break and that started to work for us then in the second half.
“We only have one 21-year-old on and that was Robbie McDonnell.
“The rest are all really 18/19 year olds, most of them were on the minor team so they have a big season in their legs already.
“Jack McGlynn and his brother Peter Mc Glynn in the half-back line and Odhran Doherty and Fergus Campbell – they are all big runners.”
Naomh Conaill did look sharp at the Scarvey and they are helped by that fact that some of their players have central roles in the Southwest Donegal team who have won their opening two matches in the MacRory Cup.
“Danny Brown scored 1-3 for them last Friday (against Our Lady’s Castleblayney), so yeah they’re playing at a high standard and they’re doing well.
“There’s three of them on the team – Thomas McDevitt at full-back, Danny at corner-forward and Max Campbell in midfield. Max is only 17 and he is a Rolls Royce of a footballer.’
Naomh Conaill have been drawn against a highly-rated Four Masters side, who have won three matches comfortably but were beaten in the only tight contest they have encountered.
‘Everyone has been beating everyone. Glenswilly beat Four Masters, we beat Ballyshannon, and Ballyshannon beat Glenswilly.
“Gaoth Dobhair seem to be the team again as they went through the group unscathed, but anyone can beat anyone on the day which was proven as we lost by eight points against Buncrana four or five weeks ago and we turned it round.
“Really and truly, it’s very hard to call but we’re in the hat so we’ll fancy our chances. We have to otherwise there is no point in doing it.”
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