'We were just at each other's throats . . . I still have the scars' - Johnny McGurk

For a period, it was the GAA’s Hollywood story, all the talk pointed north to a rivalry that had it all. 

In a lot of ways, it defined the national game in the early 1990s - the stories are still there, the war wounds are still present, and the talking points are still debated.  

For those lucky enough to remember those games, Donegal and Derry games were as thrilling as they’d come, but they were far from any Sunday picnic in the park.  

There was Joe Brolly’s late goal in ’98, John Cunningham’s sending off, Tommy Ryan’s broken jaw, Tony Boyle’s damaged knee . . . all sliding door moments to say the least. 

Like a rags-to-riches tale, it saw two teams with very little success before this era come from the darkness to capture the most coveted trophy in Irish sport in the Sam Maguire Cup, but that almost seemed impossible without each other squaring up in Ulster. 

Derry legend Fergal McCusker once called it a toxic and nasty rivalry, All-Ireland winning boss Brian McEniff said thinking of those championship games with Derry gave him sleepless nights.

There was simply no love lost between these neighbouring counties. 

Of all the matches down through the years that Donegal has played, the Ulster final in 1993 seems to be the one that hurts most. The ‘Chaos in Clones’ saw a July rain shower create a Monaghan mudbath.  

The story goes that as the fans struggled to find their feet on the slippy old hill, McEniff and Derry boss Eamonn Coleman met in the middle of the field to consult with officials if the match would go ahead. A ball was thrown by a Donegal selector that died in a puddle of water. Somehow the field was deemed safe to play on. 

Derry captain Henry Downey said at the time: “I think honestly this pitch unplayable”. Teammate Enda Gormley labelled it “an absolute disgrace”. A Donegal County Board member offered his resignation in protest, such was his disgust. 

And while Derry ended that afternoon the victors by taking Donegal’s Ulster and All-Ireland crown away from them, there was always that niggling feeling of what could’ve been had the match been played in better conditions, but Derry legend and All-Ireland winner Johnny McGurk takes a different stance on it. 

“Donegal fans may claim to this day that if the pitch hadn’t been so bad in Clones during the 1993 final, they would’ve beaten us, but I think no matter where you would’ve put the teams that afternoon, I think it was our time and we were just the better side and deserved to win,” said the former half-back and All-Star winner McGurk. 

“Now having said that, if we bet Donegal in the Ulster final in 1992, I don’t think we would’ve won the All-Ireland that season. We needed that extra year to develop. Donegal was just that step ahead of us that year. 

“I think they took a lot of lessons from Down’s All-Ireland victory in 1991, as we did after ’92, so our success all hit off each other, we all learned from each other's success and came back the following season stronger and better, and that’s what made those games great.” 

As a spectacle, the Lavey man remembers that time with fond memories. There were league meetings along the way, but the summers in Clones in 1992 and ’93 are the ones that heightened the rivalry. 

“It was just a great time to be involved as a player because in the early 90s, we were the two best teams in the country playing in the hardest competition,” said McGurk. 

“We were just at each other's throats, and I can say from those battles I probably still have a few scars here or there. 

“I don’t know where it came from or even why, but there just seemed to be that bitter rivalry at the time between us and Donegal. I always felt, that when you were going out to play against that Donegal side at the time, you really had to be up for it, you could never relax. 

“From our point of view, we knew how dangerous their players were, so you had to develop a fit of anger and a real dislike for them in the hope of stopping them, so by the time the ball was thrown in, you were ready to take lumps out of each other in the hope of winning. 

“Every county in Ireland was looking at us, we were two counties with very little success prior to that time and now we were setting the game alight with our rivalry, so, you can say they were good times and exciting times, but on the field, they were intense times.” 

In ’92, on the greasy turf, Donegal, with 14 men, recovered from Seamus Downey’s scrappy goal early in the second half, one deemed later by captain Anthony Molloy in his book as a ‘certain square ball’. It was Derry who had dethroned Pete McGrath’s All-Ireland champions in the semi-final, and Derry who came in as favourites. 

But led by Molloy, in front of 35,000, Donegal collected a second provincial title in three years. This one would result in a first-ever All-Ireland. 

Derry turned the tide the following season and would bring Sam back to Ulster for the third year in-a-row.

Certainly, a different time. 

McGurk was part and parcel of those setups as he recalls the mental preparation a defender had to do when coming up against a forward line consisting of the McHugh brothers and Joyce McMullin. 

“One player I dreaded coming up against was Joyce McMullin,” McGurk admits. “I marked him in the 1992 final, I would say he was one of the most underrated players ever to come out of that county. 

"Joyce was extremely hardworking but what used to frustrate me about him was that nothing fazed him, he never seemed anxious or nervous, you could give him a dig and it just wouldn’t bother him, he showed no weakness and probably didn’t get as much credit as he deserved. 

“James McHugh was another serious player, never afraid to get stuck in, I think we were the match-up that was talked about most before the Ulster final in 1993. You couldn’t give James a minute of space on the ball, or he’d be gone past you, so in terms of their forwards and our defence, it really was evenly matched.” 

The pendulum in recent times now swings in Derry’s favour as they once again enter this northern battle as favourites and reigning Ulster champions, while Donegal reappears from the dark and horrifying shadows of 2023. 

But if the history of this rivalry is anything to go off, these rivalries will always throw a spanner in the works when least expected. It's a case of never doubting the underdogs. As former Derry boss Coleman explained on that July day in Monaghan in ’93, ‘if they can win it, why can’t we?’