McShea's Say: Donegal's fantastic four more than deserving of All-Star recognition

Every Donegal fan had to be delighted when the county was proud to see four of their team get their just reward by being selected on the 2025 All-Stars team on Friday. 

Michael Murphy, Finnbarr Roarty, Michael Langan, and Brendan McCole were the most deserving winners of this very special honour. 

In winning his fourth award, Michael Murphy has already become a legendary figure in the history of Donegal GAA.

His achievements in Donegal football are unrivalled, his expertise unparalleled, and his enthusiasm unquenchable throughout a remarkable career that has seen him correctly acknowledged as Donegal’s greatest ever Gaelic Footballer. 

Throughout his wonderful career, Michael always played an enterprising brand of football that was spectacular to behold. 

Like all great players, he has an extraordinary ability to consign past success to history at the beginning of each season, and his decision to continue his county career was greeted with acclaim when he confirmed that he would continue his remarkable career in 2026.

With the virtual elimination of the old style positional play, the game today requires so much running that a good ‘engine’ is essential, while thankfully, the art of fielding is once again crucial to a team’s success. 

Michael Langan is a master of that art, while he played an outstanding role in Donegal’s march to the All-Ireland final. 

Brendan McCole seemed to draw the short straw in every Donegal match on their way to the All-Ireland final, because he was opposed by the opposition's best forward every time Donegal played. 

Brendan is blessed with a football brain that secretes intuitive football intelligence. Brendan’s positioning at full back has tightened Donegal’s defensive bolts, and his ability to tackle without fouling is effective and essential in the modern game. 

Finnbarr Roarty had an evening he will never forget as he was selected as an All-Star and won the coveted Young Player of the Year award. 

Never was a winner of both accolades more deserving. Finnbarr was superb in this championship. The tearaway exuberance and intelligence of his play simply tore up the rule book and bamboozled every defensive strategy on his way to the final. 

Finnbarr plays with extreme confidence for one so young, and he seems like he never worries about the possibility of playing poorly, because he always believes he is going to play well. The young Glenties man is a reason for the optimism that prevails in Donegal about the team’s future over the next few years.

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The footballer of the year award was won by Kerry’s David Clifford, his third time to get such a special honour in the last few years. 

A true icon of Gaelic Football at the tender age of 26. Those of us who are fortunate to have seen him play would rate the Kerry virtuoso as the greatest Gaelic footballer of this or any other generation. 

Clifford’s genius lies in his mobility, vision, bravery, and apparently effortless command of the game's most subtle tricks and skills. Watching the All-Stars on TV on Friday night, both David and Finnbarr interviewed superbly. 

Finnbarr was simply overjoyed with his achievements, while David impressed as a grounded and very modest superstar and special role model for his legion of fans.

Donegal’s disappointing record in Ulster club football continued at the weekend when Glenties were beaten by a very good Scotstown side. The Monaghan outfit are a formidable team and will take some beating in this campaign. 

Glenties believed that they were serious contenders to have a good shot at winning Ulster this year, but after going eleven points adrift, it would have required a spectacular second half to get back into the game. 

Scotstown blazed into action after a quiet opening quarter and at times seemed only a score or two away from routing the Donegal champions, but to their credit, Glenties continued to battle, but on a day when not having played for a month seemed to have a negative impact on their display, Glenties could have no complaints about this latest disappointment in the province.