Mac's Vew: Ireland win over Hungary gave country a great lift

What a weekend it was for Irish sport and especially Sunday when Ireland got the late win over Hungary in Budapest to put themselves in the play-off for the World Cup.

This Troy Parrott is something special and imagine that Spurs sold him for €4m. He put a smile back on Irish supporters and the win gave the whole country a great lift.

And not forgetting our own Seamus Coleman, what a great bit of stuff. They thought his time was up but Ireland have only improved game after game since they got him back. He is a special player and someone we can be very proud of here in Donegal and in his native Killybegs.

We have something to look forward to and it would be nice to get to the World Cup finals, especially as they are being played in the US. They have a great chance now and after winning the last three matches, they will fear no one home or away.

Fair play to the manager from Iceland, Heimir Hallgrímsson, who is a dentist by trade and I’m told he still works at his practice a few days a week.

On top of that our rugby team hammered the Aussies on Saturday to make it a very good weekend for our international teams. But it was the soccer win which captured the imagination the most.

Here in Donegal it was great to see an all-Donegal Mac Rory Cup game being played in Ardara on Friday night with Abbey VS, Donegal Town just about overcoming a South-West Donegal amalgamation. Indeed, by all accounts, it was a game which South-West could have won if they had taken their chances.

That amalgamation is a great idea to give players at the top level a chance to play in the Mac Rory Cup, which is the elite college level in Ulster.

Maybe Inishowen could do something similar. They had an amalgamation some years ago but it didn’t last. It is something that they might consider again.

On the hurling front Donegal champions Setanta ran into a truck in the form of St John’s, the Antrim champions. It was always going to be a tough ask for Setanta. It is good to see the city club in Belfast back as Antrim champions as it is usually dominated by the North Antrim clubs.

Congratulations to Burt on winning the Ulster Junior title after a great battle with Lavey of Derry.

Here in Donegal the U-21 Championships are progressing well and Glenswilly had a big win over Gaoth Dobhair at the weekend. It hasn’t been a good end to the year for Gaoth Dobhair, losing out at senior, minor and U-21. I see Four Masters, the holders, won easily against MacCumhaill’s but they will get a tougher test in the semi-final this weekend when they face Glenswilly.

Naomh Conaill and Termon will be another tasty affair in the second semi-final. Naomh Conaill overcame St Eunan’s while Termon needed extra-time to get past Aodh Ruadh.

On the Donegal front I was disappointed to see that Luke Barrett had gone to Derry. He had opted out from Donegal, for whatever reason. Replacements for the work he was doing in video analysis, etc., are hard to get and it would seem Donegal have been struggling to replace him. A lot of names have been bandied about but hopefully the post will be filled soon.

Before I finish this week, I want to wish the best of luck to our neighbours, Erne Gaels, Belleek, who take on Kilcoo in the Ulster Senior Club semi-final on Saturday evening. Good luck to manager, Declan Bonner and his assistant, Paul Brennan, as well as all the team. Kilcoo will be tough opposition as they have a lot of experience of playing in the Ulster club year after year.

I heard also that Erne Gaels have a wedding on Saturday in Italy and that doesn’t help preparations. Still, they did really well to get past Kingscourt away from home and even if they will be underdogs, anything can happen on the day.

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Finally this week my condolences to the Cunningham family, Portnoo and Killybegs and the Diver family, Ardara on the death of Joan Cunningham and Tom Diver. The families are steeped in the GAA. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam.

Brian McEniff was in conversation with Peter Campbell