Four Masters continue to set records with four in-a-row minor

It was a close match in the Donegal Division 1 Minor Championship final in O’Donnell Park on Bank Holiday Monday until the 20th minute.

Glenswilly were a point adrift at 1-1 to 0-3 but that was the moment when Four Masters full-back Aidan Quinn decided to take the bull by the horns. Quinn thundered into a challenge for the ball with big Paddy Ward of Glenswilly on his own 20m line. The ball broke and he was onto it like a flash. Taking off he was like the proverbial thoroughbred steeplechaser, head slightly lowered. The Glenswilly side just hadn’t time to set up any possible fences as Quinn sped over the half-way line and with the defence drawn to meet him, he found Thomas Lenehan in acres of space. The corner-forward had already found the net once, and he showed his marker a clean pair of heels to drive home the second goal.

They would add another 1-2 in a couple of minutes and the game, as a contest, was over. But it was Quinn’s driving run which started the rout and put Four Masters on their way to an historic four-in-a-row, equalling the feat of Aodh Ruadh from 1979 to 1982.

The magnitude of winning four minor titles in succession is massive and for the four members of the panel  (Lewis McCaughan, Daniel McGinty, Turlough Carr and Conor McCahill) winning their fourth medal, it is a great personal achievement. When Aodh Ruadh did the four-in-a-row just two players, Brian Murray and Conor Boyle, were on all four panels.

Monday’s win for the Four Masters by a big margin of 6-10 to 0-9 is a remarkable statement for the way the club has been run over the past 10 years or so. Naomh Conaill were the only side that got close to them, running them close over the last two years.

The remarkable statistic from Monday’s final was that Conor McCahill took 40 minutes to get his name of the scoresheet. But don’t be fooled by that; McCahill was instrumental in the period when Four Masters made hay in the first half, his distribution top class in setting up Thomas Lenehan for his first and third goal. The spotlight was on McCahill which left space and Lenehan took full advantage, the quality of his finishing another highlight on the day.

There was also quality defending with a couple of great blocks from Eoghan O’Neill and Alan McHugh in the opening half; the attacking running of Cian Gavigan; Gethin Mosby was a good target man and then you had the Carrs, if you’ll pardon the pun, driving the bus. Jack McGroarty also got forward from corner-back to score. Goalkeeper Lewis McCaughan kept a clean sheet and also got on the scoresheet.

Glenswilly, to be fair, never threw in the towel, but the margin after the Four Masters blitz in the opening half, was always too big. They were able to match Four Masters in some areas but didn’t have enough in every position.

Quite a few of the team were in Mac Rory Cup action with Abbey VS the previous Wednesday when they put in a quality performance to defeat St Michael’s of Enniskillen in another historic day for the club, hosting the first ever game in the competition  in Tirconaill Park.

The Four Masters minor bandwagon will now head to Belfast once more for the St Paul’s Ulster Minor Tournament. They are seeking a three in-a-row, another milestone mark. The draw for the tournament takes place on Saturday next and the nine Ulster winners are now known and are - Portglenone (Antrim); Dromintee (Armagh); Southern Gaels (Cavan); Bredagh (Down); Dungiven (Derry); Four Masters (Donegal); Derrygonnelly (Fermanagh); Clontibret (Monaghan) and Ardboe (Tyrone).