BY RYAN FERRY
IF things had played out differently, Dylan McAteer may have been playing in the new League of Ireland third tier this month, but he is more than content with his decision to go all in with Glenswilly GAA club.
McAteer played for Finn Harps at underage level and then had a stint with Bonagee United in the Donegal Junior League.
He found time to impress for Glenswilly at Under 21 level and now he’s performing consistently for the club’s senior team.
“I quit the soccer at the start of the year and decided to go all in full-time with the gaelic. That’s that bus parked now,” said the defender, who is in the second year of a Carpentry Apprenticeship.
“I would have been playing soccer from the start of the year until October time and then the Under 21s would have got going and we did well in that for a couple of years.
“I suppose I just kind of fell out of love with the soccer and fell in love with Gaelic Football.
“We have a strong team here with Glenswilly and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do.”
Glenswilly didn’t have Michael Murphy for their last outing against Killybegs but still came away with a 1-18 to 0-16 win.
It wasn’t a vintage performance but there were plenty of positives for the Glen men to take from it.
“In the first half, we felt ourselves that we weren’t at our level.
“In the second half, they came at us hard which we expected but thankfully then, we dug it out and got a goal to see us over it.
He added: “Michael is Michael and he’s definitely our best player and one of the best in the country.
“It’s great to have him for what he does on the ball but even off the ball, and how he speaks to the younger lads.
“He wasn’t there against Killybegs but that gave an opportunity for Daithi (Gildea) to come back into the team and you see the quality that we have.
“It’s a young team throughout really. If you look to the bench, you’ll see a lot of minors.
“We don’t have that many older boys but we are all in it together.
“Everyone is a leader from Jamie McCauley at full-back all the way up to Matthew Enright, who is very young.”
Glenswilly are now managed by Darren McGinley while former St Michael’s bainsteoir Gary O’Neill is doing the coaching.
It’s a busy schedule for the players between gym and pitch sessions but McAteer is enjoying it, and they have three wins to their name and are looking at reaching the quarter-finals with a victory on Sunday.
“Darren is great. He pulls boys for a chat individually at training and gives pointers.
“He has that experience himself of playing for Glenswilly for many years and his experience is a great asset.
“Gary is a very good coach. We like to play high-tempo football and that’s possible because of our training through.”
Sean MacCumhaills are Glenswilly’s opponents on Sunday and they are still under pressure with just two points to their name.
The Twin Towns side lost to Dungloe in their opener but have recorded draws against St Eunan’s and Gaoth Dobhair since and they will be chasing a result to make sure they finish in the top 12.