Bragging rights up for grabs as Glenfin host MacCumhaills

As Glenfin go into the weekend on a run of four games unbeaten, it sets up nicely for another derby clash when they host Sean MacCumhaills.

The Páirc Taoibhoige men defeated neighbours Glenswilly by 2-14 to 0-18 away from home on Sunday, and while also boasting an unbeaten home record so far this campaign, things are looking promising for Frank McGlynn’s side.

With a near full-strength panel to choose from, with county panellist Luke McGlynn coming on at half-time in recent matches, the side which have a good blend of experience mixed with youth are ticking along nicely.

Having defeated the Twin-Towns men in the last two Division 1 campaigns at home, they will be looking to make it a hat-trick on Sunday (throw-in 3pm), although their neighbours are starting to pick up form.

Four defeats in their first four games had Gary Wilson’s side off to a poor start, but after back-to-back wins over Kilcar and Malin, they have begun to climb the table with the return of Under-20 county stars Sean Martin and Conor McGinty.

And Glenfin captain Daniel Marley is expecting another close battle.

“It is a big derby for us, it’s at home too so it would be nice to keep the home record going.

“It’s never easy against them, and we’ve had a couple of tasty affairs in the last few years.

“We’ve had them at home for three years in a row now, so I’m sure they’ll be looking to get at us. They beat us in the championship two years ago, but we’ve beaten them the last twice in the league.

“We started a bit slow at the beginning of the league, but now we’re getting a good bit of momentum in the last couple of games and were hoping we can get another couple of points on the board.

“We have been doing not so bad at home, but we struggled away to St Michael’s and Four Masters, so it was nice to come over the line away from home (against Glenswilly).”

Marley is captaining the side, and the 20-year-old is one of several early twenties to late teens who have been helping to get them over the line in recent games.

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The aforementioned McGlynn, along with Shaun Ward, Odhran O’Connor, Tommy McNulty and Jack Long are regular starters, while Daire Quigley, Oisin McGlynn and Seaghan McCormick have been pushing on from the bench.

“We have a good mix from the older boys and then a bit of energy from us has helped,” the second-year Sports & Exercise student at ATU Donegal added.

“Frank has a wealth of experience in the game and the same goes for Mark (McGinty) and Karen (Guthrie); they have all been a real help.”

As Odhran O’Connor struck his second goal, Glenfin had a nine point lead against Glenswilly erased to one point in the final 15 minutes and Marley feels they need to be more composed in future.

“We knew it would be hard fought to get the two points and we fairly made hard work of it in the second half.

“After we got that goal we knew they’d come at us, and it showed with some of their older, experienced heads coming on towards the end.

“We probably panicked more than anything and took some bad shots when we probably could have held on to the ball for a bit longer and worked our scores better.

“We did get one near the end from Aaron (McGlynn), but if we had done that earlier then we could have been much better off.”