BY MATTHEW WILSON

After a couple of close calls, Naomh Conaill are still standing as they prepare for yet another Donegal Senior Football Championship Final.

The Glenties men have been ever present at the latter stages of the Senior Championship in recent times, with today’s showdown with Gaoth Dobhair set to be their eighth final appearance in the last nine years.

The seven-time county champions qualified for this year’s showpiece courtesy of a four-point victory over Four Masters in a thrilling last four tie.

Naomh Conaill manager Martin Regan was pleased to have gotten over the line but discussed that their opponents will be disappointed looking back at some of the chances they failed to capitalise on.

“Yeah definitely, when Four Masters look back they will be disappointed with some of the wides they kicked. We had a couple of chances ourselves but probably not to the same extent that they had.”

“Look, we live to fight another day. They will be disappointed and they’ll learn a lot from it as well. They’re a young side and they’ll have learned an awful lot. They’ll be there or thereabouts for the next few years, definitely.”

Approaching the interval in extra-time in that encounter, Naomh Conaill were three points adrift and looked in trouble before Kevin McGettigan popped up to net a vital goal.

Likewise in the quarter-final against Termon, the Glenties outfit looked down and out before a late goal from Max Campbell and a white flag from Finnbarr Roarty sealed a comeback win.

They won’t want to chance their luck of performing a third comeback against the Magheragallon men this weekend.

However, Regan discussed that they’re glad to be in the game coming down the home stretch and feels that the new rules have had a real impact in terms of how tight and tense contests are entering the closing stages.

“You don’t want to be in that danger but at the same time you’re glad to be in the game with a couple of minutes to go as well. The games have changed a lot with the new rule changes as well.”

“Not just in the last two games but across all of our group games. Glenswilly beat us the first day out by a point, We beat Ardara by a point, we lost to St Michael’s by four points and we beat Downings’s by maybe two.

“All of the games are going right down to the wire, we saw that throughout the Championship in Donegal this year. Nearly all of the games are the same and Gaoth Dobhair will say the same themselves with the St Michael’s game.”

“They were comfortable enough at the end but it doesn’t take much, with a two-pointer or a goal a game can change very quickly.”

“Yeah we got lucky against Termon, we were six down with a few minutes to go, but you still have that chance if you keep fighting until the end. Games are going down to the wire an awful lot this year.”

The Davy Brennan Memorial Park men have been without talisman Ciaran Thompson for the entirety of their Championship campaign.

The Donegal Star picked up an injury in the All-Ireland Football Final against Kerry which was later confirmed as a partial ACL tear.

Thompson is a real leader within the Naomh Conaill camp and many questioned what effect it may have had on the Glenties side’s Championship aspirations.

Although, in his absence some of the younger individuals have really stepped up to the plate in the form of Finnbarr Roarty, Shea Malone and Max Campbell who are all displaying experience beyond their years.

Regan expressed that Thompson’s injury was a chance for other players to step up and become leaders in the group which they have definitely done.

“Yeah they have (stepped up). We knew shortly after the All-Ireland Final that Ciaran would be out for the year and we made our peace with that very quickly.

“It was difficult because Ciaran is a massive player for us both in the dressing room and on the field, he’s a leader for us.

“We said it at the time, it was an opportunity for other boys to step up and be the leaders this year and thankfully they have. Other lads have stepped up and performed when it mattered and came up with big moments when games looked like they were getting away from us.”

“Max (Campbell) stepped up and got the goal against Termon, Kevin (McGettigan) got it in the semi-final. That might’ve been Ciaran last year but other players are stepping up to the plate this year.”