THE future is bright for Gaoth Dobhair football. That was the simple, yet powerful, message delivered by veteran defender Eamon McGee on Sunday afternoon.
McGee, together with younger brother Neil, had just picked up his third Dr Maguire winners medal – twelve years after they won their second to add to their 2002 triumph – both against St Eunan’s
“They talk about tradition in Gaoth Dobhair but you only have tradition if you’re winning and we haven’t been there enough. Hopefully, this is the start of something new.
“The older lads don’t have too many miles left on the clock and we need the medals. The younger bucks have a big future ahead. Hopefully that’s the first of many for them,” McGee said.
There’s a nice blend of youth and experience in the Gaoth Dobhair squad with McGee one of the elder statesmen at this stage of his career.
“Anything we can do to help them lads progress and drive on Gaoth Dobhair GAA we’re more than happy to help – hopefully this is the start of it now,” McGee said.
While McGee has retired from the Inter County scene he’s hoping to play with his parish for another while yet.
“You don’t retire from the club. The club retires you so until Mervyn says to me ‘listen we might move on’ I’ll be about Gaoth Dobhair unless St Eunan’s come calling,” he says with a wry smile.
At the final whistle, McGee grabbed the nearest men to him – including Naoise O’Baoill – and lifted them high in the air.
“The club is your family. You can’t choose your club. We’ve been through lows and highs. We’ve seen boys grow up and we’ve shared that moment. It’s brilliant to do it with your club and to share it with your friends is unreal. It’s a brilliant feeling and we’ll enjoy this but hopefully we’ll go on and push on in Ulster,” he said.
‘Three from three is good. Hopefully now we push it on. Ulster is the big one now. We want to try and test ourselves in Ulster,” he added.
“There’s a lesson to be learned for County Boards and clubs. There’s a lot of good work done in the minor board – a lot of boys who didn’t want any plaudits or pats on the back. They put the hard work in and they are why we have a medal because they put the work in and there’s no word about them now,” he said.
With that his lifts his daughter Daisy high into the air, gives her a hug and kiss and walks off to rejoin his family.
Life is good for Eamon McGee and for Gaoth Dobhair. They’ll enjoy the celebrations over the next few days. Well earned and well deserved.
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Posted: 3:20 pm October 23, 2018