'I remember thinking I’ll never get back to an All-Ireland final again' - O'Connor

‘None of us knew what it was like to lose our grasp on those big days. Maybe we believed those days were only for winning. Kerry were the better team on the day, but our performance wasn’t there.’ - Jim McGuinness Until Victory Always  

It’s exactly 10 years since Donegal experienced the unkindest cut of them all when falling at the final championship hurdle on a sunny September day in Dublin’s northside. 

It would be hard to believe, before or since that forgettable day back in 2014, but Jim McGuinness’ side walked into Croke Park against Kerry as favourites.  

The near-missed chances from that final still irk many from the county to this day. It was a ‘what could’ve been’ decider that saw the Kingdom edge it on a 2-9 to 0-12 point scoreline.  

Down pitchside following the final whistle Kerry star Kieran Donaghy screams to the RTÉ gantry; ‘they said the production line was finished in Kerry . . . well Joe Brolly what d’ya think of that?’, while Jim McGuinness addressed his team for what would transpire be his final match first time around.  

One of those near-missed chances that day fell towards Buncrana man Darach O’Connor in the first half.  

On 24 minutes, Rory Kavanagh slips a ball over the head of Kerry defender Fionn Fitzgerald to the in-running O’Connor, from a tight angle, he shoots for goal only for Brian Kelly to knock it out over the sideline.  

Football history and Donegal’s subsequent 10 years may have gone differently had the shot gone differently that day.

“I don’t remember much about the game, it’s something to this day I’ve never watched back,” admits O’Connor.  

“But I remember I had a goal chance which Rory slipped to me. I probably should’ve went around the ‘keeper rather than kick it at him, but it wasn’t to be. 

“When you say 10 years ago since that All-Ireland final, it’s like a blink of an eye in some sense but it feels so long ago in another.”  

Looking back on an extraordinary first season with Donegal in 2014, the then 18-year-old Inishowen man felt seasons like that were going to be the norm, but he now knows that life has a funny way of turning things on its head.  

“It was my first year with the Donegal seniors and we ended up getting to a final. 

“At the time I probably didn’t appreciate it, I just thought this is the way it’s always going to be the way and that we’ll be getting to Croke Park every year.  

“Yeah, I definitely didn’t appreciate it back then, and I probably still don’t fully appreciate it now.  

“It’s great to be able to say that I played in an All-Ireland final. I know the fact that we lost, it can be a hard one to take but many great players never got that opportunity and I’m happy I did.”  

During that period under McGuinness from 2011-’14, O’Connor noted a transition in the county where the love for GAA just exploded with the senior team instilling a mental belief not seen before.  

“I think that time in Donegal, following on from the 2012 win, the county was just football-mad and it was great to be a part of what was a unique time. 

“It’s funny when you look back on it, and I’m sure it’s the same with the county team now under Jim, but I went out fully believing that we were going to win every game.  

“Maybe you could say I was young and naive but even the Dublin game in the semi-final, there were no ‘ifs’, ‘buts’, or ‘maybes’ about it. Jim had us convinced that we were beating Dublin and every other team.  

“I know at that time people were talking about the Dublin juggernaut and that we didn’t have much of a chance.  

“But we were all convinced that we were winning that game. It was unfortunate that we didn’t win the final, but when you pack up everything we did that season, it really was quite extraordinary.  

“It was the best time of my life. All I wanted to do growing up was to play for Donegal. And I think if any young fella had a chance to play for their county, I would tell them to go for it.  

“You never know what the future holds but I take it as a massive honour to have been involved for as long as I was.”  

When McGuinness named his starting team the morning of the final, a late change from the match programme saw the introduction of O’Connor instead of the already-established Patrick McBrearty.

For O’Connor, he was determined to treat it as just another game, but looking back now, he also knew that he was entering into unchartered waters.  

“I didn’t know I was playing in the final until that morning when the team was named. I think Jim might’ve wanted to shield me from it so left it late to tell me I was playing,” he said.  

“I do remember being surprised because Patrick McBrearty was there and Christy Toye was there.  

“And I’m not stupid enough to not know that they were far better than me in terms of talent, so it was a shock, but I knew I had a job to do.”  

Many may have seen that ‘close but no cigar’ performance from Donegal that day as the last great dance from a team that journeyed a marvelous road together for four years.  

But at only 18, the road was only beginning for O’Connor. The future looked bright in the green and gold until plaguing injuries, some he still feels to this day brought the rising star down.  

It’s a sore point that hits him harder than the 2014 final itself, but not something he’s willing to dwell on for years to come.  

“I don’t reflect on it much but it’s mad to think that in 2014 I was only 18. I played every game that championship season for Donegal, and since then I’ve only played two,” he acknowledged.  

“Obviously, I had my issues with injuries, and when you’re young you think you’ll get back on the field with no issues, but as we know, that’s not how it works.  

“When I did my cruciate in 2015, I remember thinking ‘I’m only young, it’s okay’. Physios were telling me that you had to respect injuries, but I just thought when I got onto a football field then I would be fine.  

“I probably never fully recovered from the first cruciate injury because I was young, I thought I knew better, and maybe I didn’t respect the injury correctly.  

“Looking back, it does annoy me, like my left knee has been sore nearly every day since 2015.  

“That annoys me more than what I did with my career but again, I was still there, on the panel, up until 2019. They really were the best days of my life and I look back mostly with fond memories.”  

They say that the snapshot of euphoria can be often limited in sport, but what can often be rarer is a player knowing they’ve done something remarkable at such a young age, while also accepting that such a day in the sun is unlikely to return in sporting terms.  

“Look, it can be annoying with all that happened but it is an elite sport, so even making a small stint with Donegal is better than nothing. Some people can only dream of playing in an All-Ireland final and I got that chance at 18,” O’Connor explained.  

“There were a few dark days after that final because I remember thinking about my ‘aul boy’ who lost an All-Ireland final with Roscommon and never got back to one, and I didn’t want that to happen to me.  

“Unfortunately, in 2015 I injured my knee three times as well as my cruciate and it was then I remember thinking that I’ll probably never get back to an All-Ireland final again.  

“I don’t regret that time really; my only wish was that I enjoyed it more leading up to the final.  

“When we beat Dublin, I remember I had to come straight home for an event, I had one or two pints that night and then went straight to bed, and from the next day on I was just focused on the final.  

“I was probably very uptight that time and was not the nicest to be around, maybe if I was a bit looser, I probably would’ve played better too.  

“I didn’t appreciate the moment or the day which is upsetting because it took another 10 years for our county to even make it back to a semi-final, but look that’s the way it is. There are greater things to worry about in life than football.”