The Cathal McLaughlin Cup makes its way home to Glencolmcille for first time

There was a perfect symmetry around Naomh Columba winning the Intermediate title for the first ever time on Sunday when they overcame Malin by eight points. They were able to take the coveted Cathal McLaughlin Cup back through his native Carrick and down Cashel Hill for the first ever time.

Led by a Doherty, which also had a perfect ring to it, amazingly the starting team list did not include the surname Gavigan or Cunningham. New names like O’Hare and Callaghan have emerged although the Gavigan blood lines are still to the fore through Declan McGuire and Alex Cunnea.

The latter pair also created something of a rare statistic as Cunnea is McGuire’s nephew.

On Sunday the men from Pairc na nGael were under pressure as they had lost three Intermediate finals, two of them in the last three years.

That pressure was dealt with as manager Brendan Doherty revealed: “Sometimes you have to park these things and you have to move on. And that’s what we did. And yet we were conscious that we have come to big days and we didn’t perform.

“The most thing that we focussed on was a performance and it was good enough to get us over the line. Maybe other days it mightn’t have been. But I’m just delighted for everybody,” said Doherty.

It was not just those finals; there were some other years when the championship ended in bitter disappointment with a couple of quarter-finals in Fintra against St Naul’s and Aodh Ruadh coming to mind.

But it was different this year with Brendan Doherty getting everyone on board and Leo McLoone of Glenties was around at training sessions giving some sound outside advice.

The return of the only player to have senior championship experience, Shane O’Gara, to man the No 1 position was also a vital cog as it released Padraig Byrne to play at midfield. And how important was that on Sunday.

“Listen, this squad has been building now for the last 11, 12 years. We had some good young fellows coming in, the likes of Shane Callaghan, Alex Cunnea and with the likes of Eric Carr, Aaron Doherty, they are all good footballers.

“Every one of our players are comfortable on the ball and you could see that out there,” said O’Gara after the game.


Joint captains Philip Doherty and Pauric Ward lift the cup

Talking about those young players, it was telling that the most decorated Naomh Columba player, John Joe Doherty, singled out the youngest player of all, Alex Cunnea, for special mention afterwards.

“I thought Alex Cunnea was exceptional today. He won a kick-out at a vital time and that was a massive catch. That broke the momentum on Malin,” said Doherty.

“But look, you can come to finals as many times as you want, but the wee bit of extra class can make the difference.

“And them couple of young players that came into the squad. Obviously Shane Callaghan is an exceptional player but I thought Alex Cunnea was exceptional as well. That wee bit of quality makes the difference in tight games,” said Doherty.

There have been many good memories for Naomh Columba with the Hegartys, Dohertys, Carrs, Gavigans, Cunninghams, etc., but they also had their share of bitter disappointments, not least in the 1990s when they managed just one Dr Maguire despite making the final on six occasions.

Another Doherty, Aaron, has picked up the leadership baton now and has been one of the drivers of the senior side since for some time after an exceptional underage career at the club and at Colaiste na Carraige.

When Ryan Gillespie was hauled to the ground in the final minutes by the Malin goalkeeper, you just knew that Naomh Columba had the man to step up to take the spot kick. He had done it for Donegal (twice) in an Ulster final so the pressure didn’t bother Aaron Doherty. And he duly despatched it to the same side as he did in Clones. That ended any glimmer of hope that Malin had of closing the gap.

“To me this is unbelievable. Boys you are growing up playing football with since you were five or six years. It just hits home, to be honest. Look to be fair, we stuck at it year after year. The boys kept coming back. It would have been easy to pack it in and say I’m emigrating. But no, every man came back and we got a few extra men back this year. 

“I’d say we had nearly everyone. Barry Carr, who has been a stalwart for the last 15 years. He moved away to Dublin but apart from him we had everyone else.

“Every player on the panel was injury free today and we had them togged and that’s massive. When you know the man coming on is picking up the game rather than letting the show down,” said Doherty.

At the end of Sunday’s contest, Padraig Byrne was announced as man of the match and he was a worthy winner. Others that were in the argument included Paul O’Hare, who had an exceptional first half; young Alex Cunnea (still at Colaiste na Carraige), Aaron Doherty, Shane Callaghan, Pauric Ward, Philip Doherty (who was coolness personified taking the first goal) and Ryan Gillespie, who had returned from Australia for the championship.

Gillespie hit four points and won the penalty - a very big part of the winning performance. Indeed, it was one of those days when every player played their part.

The big reward for Naomh Columba is the return of senior championship football to Pairc na nGael and they would relish a chance of the visit of local teams like Ardara, Killybegs and especially their almost intertwined neighbours Kilcar.

“We want to be in around there. We feel we are good enough to be competing. We are good enough to be at the table, so we’ll see,” said Padraig Byrne.

Kilcar were visitors to Pairc na nGael for a league encounter last year and were fortunate to escape with a one point victory (with one of the Kilcar points being hotly disputed). You can easily imagine a massive crowd at the venue should the neighbours clash next year.

But on Sunday last it was fitting that the Cathal McLaughlin Cup came home to the parish for the first ever time in its 48 year history. McLaughlin was a native of Clogher, Carrick and played for both Naomh Columba and Kilcar as well as for Donegal. 

For now there are two big teams again in the extreme south-west which is only good for Gaelic football. Roll on 2026.

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MATCH FACTS

Naomh Columba 3-14; Malin 2-9

Naomh Columba scorers: Philip Doherty 1-2,1tp; Padraig Byrne 1-2,1tpf; Ryan Gillespie 0-4; Aaron Doherty 1-1, pen; Shane Callaghan 0-2; Paul O'Hare, Eric Carr, Pauric Hegarty 0-1 each.

Malin scorers: Ciaran O'Kane 2-0; Christopher McLaughlin 0-5,1f,2tpf; Sean O'Neill 0-2; Josh Conlon (f), Stephen McLaughlin 0-1 each.

Naomh Columba: Shane O'Gara; Steven Callaghan, Philip McNern, Paul O'Hare; Pauric Ward, Philip Doherty, Eric Carr; Padraig Byrne, Declan McGuire; Aaron Doherty, Ryan Gillespie, Alex Cunnea; Shane Callaghan, Kevin McNern, Pauric Hegarty.

Subs: Fionn Gallagher for D McGuire (42); Lanty Molloy for P McNern (59); Christopher Byrne and Ryan McNern for R Gillespie and K McNern (both 60+1)

Malin: Daniel Mullarkey; Gary Farren, Ciaran Doherty, Daniel Green; Sean Byrne, Oisin McGonagle, Mac McLaughlin; Taylor Bonner, Ciaran O'Kane; Sean O'Neill, Josh Conlon, Darragh Douglas; Paul McLaughlin, Seamus Houghton, Christopher McLaughlin.

Subs: Stephen McLaughlin for Douglas (39); Finn Ward for Green (50); John Gerard McLaughlin for C Doherty (55); Zach Conlon for P McLaughlin (59)

Referee: Stephen Doherty (Red Hughs)