Gaoth Dobhair legends McGee and MacNiallais pay tribute to 'unmarkable' Gallen

Gaoth Dobhair ultimately won out on the day but two of their legends couldn’t let things pass without paying a mention to Oisin Gallen.

The MacCumhaill’s forward kicked 10 points - which included three frees and two marks - in his side’s 3-9 to 0-11 loss against the 2018 Ulster Club  SFC winners in an exceptional performance, considering he was marked by Gary McFadden with three-time All-Star Neil McGee covering.

Saturday brought Gallen's total in the Donegal SFC to 1-56, 22 points ahead of second-placed Karl Joseph Molloy from Ardara on 4-25, with Patrick McBrearty from Kilcar third on 1-32. The leading scorer from teams still in the championship is Ethan Harkin of Gaoth Dobhair, who now has 1-33 to his name after seven games.

“He’s incredible,” McGee said of Gallen. “I was playing as a sweeper in there and Gary - one of the stickiest markers you can get - was on him. Sometimes you just have to put your hands up. We tried to keep the goals out and some of Oisin’s kicking was exceptional. Sometimes when he gets the ball there’s just nothing you can do about it.”

Goath Dobhair defeat MacCumhaill's for first Donegal SFC final spot in four years

Oisin Gallen kicked 10 points for MacCumhaill's as they aimed for a Donegal SFC final place but Gaoth Dobhair had plenty of scoring threats and kept the Twin Towns side at arm's length

McGee is part of Donegal manager Jim McGuinness's backroom team and believes there's plenty of young talent in the county.

"Even though my focus now is with Gaoth Dobhair, there's a lot going on behind the scenes with Donegal," McGee added. "There's plenty of talent there. I'm not one to compare to what happened before and for me, it's about the here and the now. There's lots of good talent there, like Oisin, Domhnall Mac Giolla Bhríde, the O'Donnells at St Eunan's and Odhran Doherty from Naomh Conaill, and loads more."

Odhrán MacNiallais also laid on the praises for Gallen following the quarter-final in Letterkenny.

“He’s unmarkable,” MacNiallais said. “He’s shown in the last few weeks just what an unbelievable player he is and he showed it today. That MacCumahaill’s team will have some big days coming down the line because it’s a very good team. They’ve done very well at underage and have some great players like Oisin and Joel Bradley Walsh and plenty coming through.”