Gary Wilson: MacCumhaills need to ‘punch through the ceiling’

Gary Wilson has told Sean MacCumhaills’ young guns to break through the glass ceiling.

Wilson played the last time Sean MacCumhaills contested a Donegal SFC semi-final. Five years ago, MacCumhaills were on the wrong end of a 3-14 to 1-7 beating by Gaoth Dobhair.

Fate has decreed that the two clubs meet again. This Saturday in O’Donnell Park, MacCumhaills go in search of a first senior final spot in 19 years with their wait for a visit from Dr Maguire stretching back some 46 years to the class of 1977.

“John Haran talked about it on a podcast, about teams being held under a glass ceiling,” Wilson, now a coach alongside joint managers Darren O’Leary and Mark O’Sullivan, said after the weekend’s thrilling 1-17 to 1-14 win over Glenswilly.

“Sometimes you just have to punch through the ceiling. Maybe that was ours and some men have just punched the glass.”

MacCumhaills stormed back from seven points down to win with All-Star nominee Oisin Gallen accounting for a stunning 1-9.

Wilson said: “We beat a team that people were saying were a dark horse. People were actually tipping Glenswilly as a team that could win the Championship, but no-one was tipping ourselves.

“We were wrote off. Some men on podcasts give us ammunition at times. Five times in the space of two minutes, our bravery was questioned and their character was questioned.

“It’s about getting to work again. This is a very new team and a very young team, but these young lads who have come up through the system, all they have known is winning. It won’t be hard to bring them back down again because they have been there before.

“They’re so good to work with. They’re mad for information and they’re mad to learn. They’re mad to work, too.”

MacCumhaills seemed as if they were staring into the abyss when Michael Murphy fired past Eoin Gallen late in the first half. Glenswilly led by seven but MacCumhaills stirred again when Gallen landed a somewhat fortuitous goal at the other end, just before half-time.

When Chad McSorley was black-carded, it might’ve ordinarily spelled disaster. Remarkably, MacCumhaills out-scored Glenswilly four points to one during McSorley’s time on the naughty step.

Wilson said: “The black card sort of sparked the thing, which is crazy really in a game like that and with the experience and know-how that Glenswilly have.

“It was an unbelievable performance. The goal went in and we sort of thought ‘here we go again’, but we got a bit of luck with our own goal. It was a bit fortuitous, but it gave us a real lifeline. When we look at our own performance from that first half, we were nowhere near it.”

“We went in at half-time and there was a lot of talk. I said it in the dressing room that a lot of it was noise and we were sort of worried about other things. It is all underpinned by hard work - and we didn’t work hard enough in the first half. We went from zero to 100 miles an hour with a couple of wee tweaks that we made.

“The work rate is savage. I’ve been saying for weeks that Jamie Keegan is our main man. When he’s at it, we’re at it. Jamie is the engine and the hub.

“Aaron Gilooley’s performance on Michael Murphy was exceptional. Michael is a handful. I’ve been in there trying to track him and it’s a nightmare.”

MacCumhaills can dream now, but Gaoth Dobhair - who went on to win Ulster after conquering the Finnsiders five years ago - are a seasoned bunch with plenty to ponder.

“We need to mirror that second half for a full game now,” Wilson said. “We won’t jump ahead of ourselves.

“We targeted a semi-final at the start of the Championship so we have ticked one off the list. This means so much for people in the club, people who put in trojan hours in the background.

“We talk a lot about that as a group because it’s bigger than us for 60 minutes. The Twin Towns is just waiting to get behind a team.”