Targets turn to Championship for Eoghan ‘Ban’ Gallagher

Eoghan ‘Ban’ Gallagher was one of many happy faces coming out of the Donegal changing room on Sunday after winning the league final, but there was an air of determination to turn the focus onto the Ulster Championship when speaking to the Killybegs man.

League titles don’t come often, and the defender was undoubtedly delighted to pick up only a second Division 1 title in the history of the county, but things move fast in Gaelic football, and thoughts were already on Down and what comes next.

“At the end of the day, it is only the league, but we’re happy to win the National League, and there aren’t many National League titles in Donegal, so we are delighted to get the win.

“You are delighted to win any national title, and we've won two Division 2 titles, so it’s great to add a Division 1 title to that.

After missing the first two games of the Dr McKenna Cup due to injury, Gallagher came on in the final, and he was a substitute in the first two games of the league campaign.

But he then started the final five games and got another full match under his belt in Sunday’s 3-20 to 2-10 win over Kerry in the final at Croke Park, and it’s all about nailing down that starting spot ahead of the clash against Down in O’Donnell Park on April 26.

“From a personal point of view, I’m delighted to get another seventy minutes under the belt and with the championship coming up now in a few weeks' time, it’s about getting the head down and full focus on to the Ulster Championship.

“I had an injury coming into the start of the season, but the league is about just trying to stay fit first of all, then trying to go up the levels, and I’ve been reasonably happy to date, and it’s about trying to kick on now.

“There are a lot of lads to come back yet. Dáire Ó Baoill has been injured, Ciarán Thompson is making his way back, Shaun Patton, Oisín Gallen, Ciarán Moore, there’s a list of boys to come back, and they will all be putting their hands up. The competition for places is going to be really strong, and everyone needs to continue to kick on and keep their place in the team.

“Similar to ourselves, Down won a National title, so they will be over the moon with that, and they’ll have the tails up.

“They’re going to have their heads down and eyeballing us only, but it’ll be a similar situation for us. The Championship is the be-all and end-all of the season, and Ulster is the first and foremost competition we want to win, and that’s no different this year.”

On the win over Kerry, the Killybegs man felt a strong start for Jim McGuinness’ men set the tone, and a trio of second-half goals in quick succession sealed the win.

“Yeah, we got a lot of the breaks of the balls in the early part of the game, which put us in a strong position, so we’re happy with the performance.

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“The breeze didn’t play as much of a part as I thought it would, it was swirling, and that made it hard to shoot into both ends. Both teams probably missed more shots than normal, but it was pretty even on both sides in both halves.

“All the lads took their goals well, Conor O’Donnell’s was a phenomenal finish, and Michael Murphy as well.

“Then Caolan McGonagle, I’m delighted for him because he doesn’t get many opportunities to score, so it was good to see him get the goal. It was three brilliant goals, and they came at an important time.”