Conor Reid: 'We're happy to be in this position but we hope we're not stopping yet'

It’s been a long time since Four Masters have left a field at this stage of the championship season with such optimism. 

If their season was to go for this long by this stage of the calendar year it was usually to fight for survival in the senior championship, but the Donegal Town men keep their positive streak alive following their 0-8 to 0-4 point win over Killybegs in Ardara last Sunday. 

Perhaps not a game for the purists, the second half saw Kevin Sinclair’s side open Killybegs’ defence far more easily to hit seven second-half points to see them through to the club’s first quarter-final since losing to Glenswilly in 2018. 

And while they will admit that they are far from the finished article by any means, they took great comfort on Sunday knowing they’re going in the right direction. 

Leading 0-2 to 0-1 at the break in a game that saw two teams completely mirror each other for 30 minutes, it would be fair for Four Masters to go out with more skepticism in the second half, playing into a strong breeze, but Masters forward Conor Reid acknowledged that it only made his team more focus and determined to not switch off.  

“It was a massive win for us, I know the first half wasn’t the greatest spectacle ever but only being a point up at half time and knowing the wind was against us in the second half, it made us knuckle down a bit and every man put a really good shift in, and we can walk away happy knowing that,” Reid told Donegal Live. 

With regards to their defensive play, the younger of the three Reid brothers admitted that it was never something they planned to do but rather just how the first half seemed to pan out. 

“We were never planning to sit back because we know we have the forwards and we back ourselves every time we go out onto the pitch, it’s a matter that we’re just going to go out and play our own game and we’re not going to suit our play to other teams,” he said. 

“I think we’re set up well, we have a good defensive system going, and it’s just a matter of sticking to that and staying solid throughout the whole game. We’re not going to change for any team, so we’re happy doing what we’re doing at the minute.” 

A monstrous kick 45 metres from the county U-20 player seemed to be a decisive moment in the game that turned the tide for Masters, but Reid points to the strength that came off the bench and carried his team home when it came to the crunch time. 

“We were saying in the huddle that the depth we have in the squad now is great and it’s been building over the last few years. We had boys who came off the bench and they were exceptional in terms of the energy they brought to the game,” he said. 

“A few boys like Joe Leape and Alex McCalmont, who didn’t start, and no doubt they’d be disappointed considering they started all year but it didn’t seem to affect their performance at all, and that’s great when you have everyman stepping up to the mark. 

“We have numbers, we have depth in the team, and we have lads that are coming off the bench and are making a big difference, so we’re happy with where we’re at as a team.” 

Alongside the strength in numbers, the Four Masters man also points to the introduction of players from the underage ranks into the senior squad, who have made a huge impact and built confidence in the team throughout the year. 

“I think when you look at it, every year we have new players coming into the senior team and they are making a difference,” Reid said.  

“As a club, I think we’re flying with a good underage structure, and when you bring young players into the team who are making a difference it pushes lads to up their game and forces players to compete for positions. 

“So, we’re happy to be building as a team all the time. We set out to make the championship quarter-final as our target at the start of the year but we hope that’s not where we’re going to stop.  

“As the league went on, we started building as a strong team, and we can see that now, so we hope we can keep going and we back ourselves to do so. We’re happy to be in the position we’re in.”