St Eunan’s and Setanta has all the potential to steal Donegal GAA club summer show

The Donegal SHC final meeting of St Eunan’s and Setanta at the weekend has so much potential and the hope in the lead-in is that it lives up to expectations.

The ingredients are all there and if it delivers as a spectacle then those that pay through the turnstiles will be in for a real treat.

READ NEXT: Times confirmed for Donegal hurling finals triple header in O'Donnell Park, Letterkenny 

As well as both sets of supporters, the noticeable thing this week approaching Saturday is the amount of ‘casuals’ that intend to take the action in, in O’Donnell Park, Letterkenny.

As well as being two supremely talented squads, there is also some niggle and real rivalry there and those combustible elements mean just about anything could happen.

And it this one does ignite, it’s a contest that could very well steal the show when it comes to club action, across any code, this season.

Ahead of the weekend’s tangle, the mind games have already begun with the St Eunan’s camp insisting Sean McVeigh isn’t available but the Setanta one having it on good authority that the player togged in a challenge outing last week.

A hip complaint has completely blighted McVeigh’s club campaign so it remains to be seen if Eunan’s are indeed playing possum.

Speaking at Monday evening’s press launch in Convoy, Paddy Flood says only one thing is for certain ahead of their Setanta clash and that is that Eunan’s will need to be at their absolute best to edge this one.

“We know the task at hand - we will have to bring our absolute best to win it,” he said. “Anything less and it won’t be good enough. Setanta have been the team to beat for the last decade now.

“They have set a serious pace and serious standard to be fair. We got the better of them in 2021 but they have had the upper hand for most of the rest of the time.

“And we know 2021 is now well in the rear view mirror, we have to step back up. This is the here and now and there is a fantastic opportunity in front of us.

“We had a great tussle with them over in the Cross in the group stage that ended all square. Anyone there that evening really enjoyed it. The variables are different this Saturday, there is added pressure.

“But at the same time, it’s another encounter than could well be a brilliant watch”.

In a landslide 24-point semi-final win over MacCumhaills, Cathal O’Brien starred as he accumulated 13 overs while the likes of Peter Kelly, twice, Conor Parke and Cian Randles bagged the goals.

That afternoon also presented the Eunan’s management team with a bird’s eye view of the second last-four tangle as Setanta squeezed out reigning champions Burt 1-22 to 2-12.

That said, Flood insisted that won’t act as any type of advantage in the final as both outfits are that familiar with each other at this stage.

“The reality is, and not just for St Eunan’s and Setanta, but with six senior teams we all know each other so well. There are no secrets.

“So while it was nice to sit and watch the second semi-final that day, like I said, I don’t think there was learning in it.

“We were put to the pin of our collar early on against MacCumhaills. It was a very uncomfortable first 15 minutes. But we upped it in the second quarter.

“Setanta and Burt was a closer game. People will say we won well and were comfortable but MacCumhaills are a train that’s coming and watch that space over the next number of years”.

Pressed on the chances of McVeigh coming in from the cold, Flood has categorically ruled the possibility out.

“It’s too early for Sean. We have definitely qualified for Ulster; win or lose, we’re in the Intermediate. Setanta can only play in the senior.

“So we’ll be hoping he could feature there. That’s the reality for us but that’s been the situation for the entire season. Besides that, we’re in a good place with injuries”.

St Eunan’s are the reigning Donegal SFC title holders and favourites to hold onto their Dr Maguire crown in 2025.

The club’s hurlers have had to deal with ‘football coming first’ for a number of their established stars in the past but, as Flood explains, that isn’t the issue it once was in O’Donnell Park.

“We have about five lads on the reserves but hurling is coming first for those guys. Kevin Kealy is the only lad we have on the senior set-up”.

Eunan’s management made a conscious decision at the outset of the season to have both their senior and reserve set-ups slugging it out, in tandem, on the training field.

And that has not only upped standards and accountability, but it’s has also forged a real bond, from top to bottom.

“It’s been such an enjoyable experience and season because of that - the numbers at training. We have a lot of lads about the town that are back home and have got back involved.

“Chris McAuley, a Ballycastle man, is senior manager with Eugene Organ his assistant and Eunan O’Donnell is in charge of the Intermediate side. And they made the decision to keep both squads together.

“And it’s just been fantastic. It sets a standard and all the senior players were over here in Convoy last week, cheering the lads on in the Intermediate semi-final.

“I’m not sure that would have been the case had they not been soldering together on the training field. They are all in this together”

Top dogs

Located just a few hundred yards shy of the Crossroads in Killygordon, Setanta continue to stand out as the county’s top dogs in hurling.

It’s a tricky intersection of road and, truth be told, a tricky intersection of conversation when it comes to discussing GAA in the area.

There are two clubs, a football one in Red Hughs and a hurling one in Setanta. The crossover is minimal so for what is an already small catchment area, the pair somehow manage to continue to co-exist and even thrive.

Red Hughs have genuine IFC aspirations this season and Setanta are looking to wrestle back a Munster Cup pulled from their grasp by Burt in 2024.

Gary McGettigan is, by his own admission, “a blow in” but the former Tyrone ace is, after turning out for the team, now an integral part of Mark Marley’s backroom team.

But despite the impressive line of silverware decorated with green and black ribbons, McGettigan explains that there are certain junctures in the season that Setanta struggle.

Having set the standard in the county for the last decade Setanta have, at times, been victims of their own success.

Their county contingent in that same period has consistently landed on double digits and, in the depth of winter on the training field, as well as many league outings, they are down to the bare bones.

“It can be a nightmare keeping the show on the road. We’d have had ten on the county panel and you’d be struggling for numbers. But there is a tradition there and you get on with it.

“I’m only in since 2017, moving into the area. But it’s unreal the passion they have. It’s family driven and that’s a big part of it too.

“We would have low numbers still in comparison with most of the others. Even the likes of Monday evening, we’d 19 or 20.

“Eunan’s, with two panels, probably have 30 to 40. And big numbers like that would give them a boost”.

McGettigan is an experienced campaigner and says he has been impressed with what he’s seen of St Eunan’s so far.

“They seem to have put in a real big effort his season,” he explained. “Even the early part of the campaign, without their county players, they felt like a different animal.

“They have a new manager there, players back out and everyone buying into it. And I’m definitely not surprised that they have made it this far. They would have been the form side all year.”

Gerard Gilmore and Josh Cronolly McGee were the chief score-getters in their semi-final win but the heartbeat of the side remains its experienced core of Kevin Campbell, Declan Coulter and Danny Cullen.

“Those lads bring huge experience and to be fair to them they keep themselves in great shape. In their late 30s now, with young families, that makes their efforts even more impressive.

Every night at training, and I’m not just saying this, they are right up there in every single drill and run”.

Last season’s relinquishing of their crown hurt at the time but with some water now under the bridge, McGettigan admits that the slate was wiped clean and, because of that disconnection with success, they’ve been able to press a reset button of sorts.

“This is our ninth final in a row. We were beat in three of them. It’s nice to be there again. We preach about not being complacent.

“But there is no substitute for hunger. And to be fair to Burt they were they were the hungrier team last year.

“We did two Ulster campaigns back-to-back and that was basically 12 months straight, for three seasons in a row. Mentally as much as physically, that takes a certain toll.

“St Eunan’s are probably slight favourites on Saturday but this has all the ingredients to be a great spectacle.

“In the group section, coming first came down to score difference. They were 50 points in front of us. That’s what we have to be conscious of”.

And, finally, when pressed on what provisions, if any, are being made for the possible involvement of McVeigh, McGettigan said: “He had a bad injury and he’s missed the entire season. But the word or rumour is he played a challenge game last week.

“We’ll have to prepare for Sean in some capacity just in case”