Kieran Gallagher enjoying the intensity of Donegal SFC on Naomh Conaill return

Kieran Gallagher made his first Donegal SFC start in the blue and white of Naomh Conaill for almost three years on Sunday, and the big midfielder is enjoying his return.

Gallagher returned from Vancouver earlier this year and played during the league campaign before getting a hamstring injury, limiting him to sub appearances in the defeat to Glenswilly and the win over Ardara.

But he played a big part from the off, along with the returning Ethan O’Donnell, who came back from Australia, as his side beat Downings by three points on Sunday and he admits he’s slowly getting used to the tough battles in a competitive championship once again.

“I played a bit with ISSC over there, you only have about four teams in Vancouver and it wouldn’t be as near as competitive as it is here, so it’s nice to get back to the intensity of the Donegal championship.

“I would have played with a lot of these boys before I went away so it was easy to come back in, and it’s great to have Ethan back too.

“There are a few younger boys I wouldn’t have played alongside until this year, but they bring a lot of life to the team.

“There’s great competition there in training, and the intensity is very high, so every man is fighting for places and that’s the way to have it.

“The rules take a bit of getting used to, and I think the weather now is a big influence in how the game materialises with the breeze.

“It puts a spanner in the works, especially with the two pointers and the mark.

“Midfielders can catch the ball and then run through, and instinctively, you try to stop them. I probably got caught out a couple of times and gave away two point opportunities, and they took advantage.

“I think there is a great bit of competition in the championship this year, most teams have had very competitive games and have lost a game, we haven’t had an easy match.”

Naomh Conaill got their second win of the championship with a 0-19 to 2-10 win, but the scoreline didn’t tell the full story as the wind-assisted 14 men of Martin Regan’s side led by eight at the break.

Downings would level with the breeze to their backs, but Naomh Conaill hit the final three points to take the win.

But Gallagher’s importance shone in winning kickouts, catching three of the Downings kicks in the first half as well as winning a free off another as he enjoyed a great battle with the impressive Cian McBride of Downings, a Meath panellist.

“Coming to Downings with a very strong breeze, we just needed to keep disciplined, especially in the first half and not rush things, take our scores when they came and we knew it would be a big battle to defend the lead in the second half.

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“They have great shooters and it was an intimidating enough breeze, so we knew we had to put pressure on kicks and keep the ball when we had it, then try to take our scores to hold on to the lead.

“It was a good battle there with the lad from Meath (McBride), I had only just heard about him but he’s a big man and good in the air, so it was a nice bit of competition for myself and the boys were great under the breaks and we really worked hard.

“I had a hamstring injury before this, and I played a decent bit in the league, but it was nice to get 60 minutes under the belt.”