Termon and Naomh Conaill battle for U21 final spot

Termon and Naomh Conaill go head-to-head at Páirc Naomh Columba this Sunday (throw-in 2.30pm) with a spot in the Under-21 A final up for grabs.

The Burn Road side are the only unbeaten team left in the competition after picking up wins against Aodh Ruadh, and the other semi-finalists of Four Masters and Glenswilly in the group phase, before an extra-time win over Aodh Ruadh once again in the quarter-finals.

Cormac Brady and Gary McGettigan and Rory McGrenra have missed games, and county Under-20 player Cian McMenamin has missed the entire competition.

Ciaran Cassidy has been in superb form so far, while Cormac Gallagher, John James Sweeney, Oisin Harkin and Patrick Fegan, along with Cormac Brady, were usual starters for the senior side who won Division 1 and got to the National Gaeltacht final.

Brady, Gary McGettigan and Rory McGrenra have missed games, and county Under-20 player Cian McMenamin has missed the entire competition, but manager Hugh Harkin is happy with where the side is at so far.

“We’d have had five that played a lot of senior football, but when we played Glenswilly a couple of weeks ago, they had about ten or eleven playing seniors.

“We’ve used about 27 players, and anyone who has come in has done a job.

“We may have got a bit lucky at the weekend and against Glenswilly, but the harder you work, the luckier you can be.”

Paddy McMenamin, Johnny McCafferty and Ricky Gallagher are in as selectors, while Jack Alcorn and Aaron Reid are helping out Harkin.

They overcame Aodh Ruadh in extra-time by 3-19 to 4-14 at the weekend, so it was a difficult challenge in an exciting game.

“For anyone at the game, it was brilliant, but for a manager, it was a disaster at times.

“It’s only my fourth match managing with the new rules, and you don't have much control, it’s up to the boys on the pitch.

“We were eight points up with seven minutes to go, but they came back, and that’s the nature of the game.

“The boys did well, and they definitely deserved to win in extra-time. We almost had to win it twice, so we’re really happy with the character that the boys showed.

“Last year, with the seniors going on to play in Ulster, we only got one real training session before it started, but we got a lot of work done this year, and we’re definitely seeing the benefits of that.”

Goalkeeper Thomas Cannon and Rory McGrenra are overage next year, as are vice-captain and captain Oisin Harkin and Cormac Gallagher, so a couple of key men will be gone.

“We’ll have the majority of them next year, but that’s next year’s problem, it’s all about this year, and we’re in a semi-final, so we’ll give it everything we can.”

And they’re heading in good nick looking forward to the semi-final, with a Naomh Conaill side standing in their way.

“They’re the senior and reserve county champions, and they’re the benchmark. In Finnbarr Roarty, they have one of the best players in the country, never mind young players. But it’s a brilliant game for us, and if you’re not up for it this Sunday, nothing will get you going.

“Last year we lost to Glenswilly in the quarter-final, then the semi-final the year before. Three years ago, we lost to Gaoth Dobhair in the final in extra-time so we have been knocking about. But we’ve only been to the final twice in our history and we’d love to get to a third, but we know it’ll be a massive game.”

For Naomh Conaill, the Under-21 Championship has eluded them in recent times, but they are ticking along well so far.

An opening day defeat to Glenswilly, minus All-Star and Young Player of the Year Finnbarr Roarty that day, was met by convincing wins over Dungloe and St Eunan’s, although the final game saw them without their senior players as they faced Scotstown in the Ulster Championship.

Michael O’Malley is managing the side, with Leo McLoone, Seamus Corcoran, Johnny McLoone and David Gallagher helping out.

“It’s been a bit funny so far because we haven’t really had a full side to pick from yet,” O’Malley said.

“Last week was probably the closest we’ve got to full fitness, but we still had Daithi Molloy missing and Jack McGlynn, who is still 50/50 for this weekend.

“The senior team and the Ulster campaign kind of hindered us a bit, so we have been a bit disjointed, but we’re getting closer to full strength this weekend.”

They faced the Letterkenny side again at the weekend in the quarter-final in a closer contest, although they still came away with a 0-16 to 1-10.

“We didn’t get complacent having already played them, we knew what was at stake and St Eunan’s were probably already through after the second game, so there was a lot more to play for last weekend, and we knew they’d come at us a wee bit more.

“They had us in trouble for long periods of that game, and it wasn’t really until the last ten minutes that we really pulled away from them.

“It’s a very young team with only maybe two lads overage next year in Aodan Brown and Sean Doherty, but that doesn’t matter to us at this stage, we want to try and win the thing this year.”

They also have got experience in the likes of Roarty, Max Campbell and Shea Malone who started the senior county final, while Mark McDevitt vice-captained the Donegal Under-20s.

“We have a massive bit of leadership in the team from the players that played senior, Mark McDevitt did too and was with the U20s and Oran Doherty and Jack McGlynn were with that team too.

“It’s a massive plus to have that experience, and they take an awful lot from that into the dressing room, it makes everything easier on the manager.”

While the pair haven’t met this year, O’Malley knows what to expect from Termon this weekend.

“It’s no secret that they have been massively competitive at nearly every underage grade for a long time now and you can see it at senior level. There would be massive momentum in there now, and they have plenty of fine players who have got senior experience this year.

“But we’ve taken each game as it comes and we’ve put our best foot forward and that’s all we can do.”