GLENFIN manager Mark McGinty says the pressure is off his men this weekend as they look forward to a derby quarter-final with Naomh Conaill.

The Pairc Taobhoige side finished in second place in Group C ahead of Glenswilly.

That meant that they were going to run into a group winner, and considering Gaoth Dobhair and Kilcar were the only two other options, they are probably happy enough to face Naomh Conaill.

However, the bookmakers have still priced them as 5/1 outsiders, and McGinty is aware that few outside his group will fancy their chances.

“Listen we’re going into this game as massive underdogs,” said McGinty, who is in his first year in charge.

“There is no pressure on us. Naomh Conaill are the team everyone expects to go through.

“Our goal at the start of the year coming up from Intermediate was just to retain our senior status.

“Anything else was going to be a bonus after that. We will go and give it everything we have this week and if it’s good enough then it’s good enough, and if it isn’t, it isn’t.”

Glenfin drew their championship opener with Glenswilly before losing out to Milford.

That meant that they had to defeat Four Masters to make it through to the last eight and they produced a scintillating display to win by 1-14 to 1-7.

“We knew we needed a big performance. We figured Glenswilly would probably win but we didn’t know how many they would win by.

“So we had to go out and win our game, and hopefully add to our score difference.

“We did that and it was a massive victory for us. We haven’t won that many games at senior level, I think our last one was in 2011 or 2012.

“We have nine boys playing senior for the first time this year, so it’s massive for them to get their first victory.”

It’s a long time since Naomh Conaill and Glenfin have crossed paths, so it’s a game that Martin Regan is eagerly awaiting.

“This is the big derby match for the Fintown lads,” said Regan, who is the Naomh Conaill manager.

“They probably wouldn’t feel the Ardara rivalry as much as the Glenties ones.

“But the Fintown lads would be very familiar with Glenfin from going to school with them (in Ballinamore) and so on.

“It’s actually a long time since we played Glenfin. I think the last time was in the Gaeltacht in 2015 when we beat them by a point or two.

“We have a healthy rivalry so it’s good to be running into them again, and we will face them more over the next couple of years as they are a coming team.”

Regan says his older players like Anthony Thompson, Marty Boyle, and Brendan McDyer are still in flying form and show no signs of slowing down.

They are still key men, but Naomh Conaill are now a taller, more physical team.

“I suppose the big change in our team over the last year or two is the big players were have brought through.

“You have Kieran Gallagher, and Nathan Byrne has come in this year and he hasn’t put a foot wrong for us.

“He turned the game for us down in Milford last year, and was excellent against MacCumhaill’s and Glenswilly, and I thought he had a fine 40 minutes last week as well.

“Charlie (McGuinness) is with the seniors this year too, and he is another man who is 6’2”, and then you have Leo (McLoone) and Ciaran (Thompson) so we are a much more physical team than we ever were before.”

Naomh Conaill lost to Glenfin in the Under 21 semi-finals last year in a game where they were out-worked and Regan says his team can’t afford to come second best in that sector again this time out.

“Glenfin over the last twenty or thirty years have always had great desire, and they will always battle.

“Now they have some very good young players coming through as well, and their Under 21s beat us last year.

“They went through to the final and were beat by St Eunan’s, but that was an exceptional ‘Eunan’s team.

“They have youth and pace, and if you want to beat Glenfin, you have to match them for hunger and desire first.”