Eoin McGeehin and St Eunan’s getting back to basics 

Eoin McGeehin says St Eunan’s are glad to be getting back down to business following what he described as a long winter around O’Donnell Park. 

Rory Kavanagh’s men were edged out by Naomh Conaill in last season’s SFC decider in a game that had its controversies. It’s old ground now but McGeehin admits it’s nice to finally be in the midst of that process of moving on. 

Frustratingly, Eunan’s were late getting their All-County League campaign under way. They weren’t down for action in the first round of fixtures and with St Michael’s not fielding in week two, the Black and Amber only got going a fortnight ago. 

Still, they shook the cobwebs in fine fashion there with a 1-14 to 0-10 win away to MacCumhaills. And last Saturday, they pummelled Killybegs by a massive 23 points on their own patch. 

This time out, they are on the road to Inishowen with a clash away to Malin. The Peninsula men have made a very good start to their own Division 1 season with three wins and a loss secured from their first four contests. 

It’s very early on in the season but McGeehin - a final year Masters student at Queen’s University, Belfast - says it’s an already highly motivated and determined St Eunan’s that have exited the blocks. 

“In fairness, it was a long wait throughout the winter,” said the Electrical Engineering student. “We’d a bye the first week then the St Michael’s game didn’t happen. So it’s just good to be playing games.

“Last year, a lot of lads were brought through and it was their first year at senior football. We’ve also taken in a few news faces this time out as well. And that’s what a squad needs. The league, we really want to take that by the scruff of the neck. 

“That competition will drive all that. You can see lads are really up for it. The intensity is there, definitely. The aim right now is to just find an improvement every single week we go out. 

“We’re away to Malin this weekend. To be fair to them they’ve made a good start to the league. They went away to Aodh Ruadh and got a win there recently. Up there, that’ll be a very tough assignment”. 

It’s a busy time for McGeehin but you wouldn’t have thought it the way he went about his business against Killybegs as he collected 1-4 for himself over the hour. 

“It was a long winter. We’d plenty of time to think, the way it ended. A lot of us are in the thick of studying with college and so on, so you kinda put it to the back of the mind. I’ve some exams coming up. When I do finally get those out of the way I’ll really be able to enjoy my football”. 

McGeehin is now into his fifth season as a senior footballer and he’s grateful to have tasted SFC success once in that time. But, as he explains, the squad and the club continue to be driven and motivated by the baron spell that preceded 2021’s reemergence. 

“We don’t take anything for granted. Like, it was seven years between 2014 and 2021. There are a lot of lads in there that don’t have the medals that some of the more experienced ones do. 

“That’s a generational gap, in a sense, between those. We were so grateful to get over the line two years ago. But we want to push on now. There is a real hunger there. And there is a great attitude every single night we get together.

“The new faces in the mix, you’re getting to know those lads better and there is a real freshness there too because of that”.