McDaid still on his own learning curve as Termon makes one final push to IFC glory

It’s almost 14 months since then 26-year-old Caolan McDaid took up the manager’s position in the Termon dugout for his first match in charge of the men from the Burn Road.   

His side secured a 2-12 to 1-8 victory away to Naomh Bríd that day in the opening round of the intermediate football championship having only been in the role 10 days until that point in August 2023.   

And while there have been ups and downs along the way, what certainly cannot be ignored is the incremental improvement his Termon senior side have made week after week over the past few months.  

There was always that expectation at the start of the year, that when it came to the crunch time in the Donegal intermediate championship, Termon were going to be one of the top dogs knocking on the door.  

And with a solid underage system and an array of talent breaking into the scenes of adult football over the past few years, the men from the Burn Road feel it’s now time to make a return to the Donegal senior championship, having spent the past three years in the second-tier competition.  

Having slotted four goals past their opponents this Sunday – Naomh Columba – in the opening round of the championship that eased them to a 10-point win, alongside the knowledge that it was not just lady luck on their side that day, having already beaten the Glen men in last year’s championship, fingers would point towards the men from Termon to make it third time lucky in 13 months.  

But McDaid and his boys in maroon and white know that the unpredictability of a final can cut both ways.  

“I think we hear it all the time around the championship, but these big games are all about what happens on the day, so we’ll just have to wait and see,” McDaid, who is in his first full season as manager said.  

“Since the Naomh Muire game, we’ve had a good week of training over the past few days, and it’ll be the same going forward this week too.  

“We had a small breakfast last Sunday morning where we got a lot of underage teams to come out to the pitch and have a kickaround with the players, so things like that can be enjoyable and good to see, but at the end of the day, there’s still a football game that we’re focused on and that’s our main target this week.”  

At the age of just 27, McDaid’s playing days were cut short due to a femoroacetabular impingement (FAI syndrome), which occurs when the ball of the hip pinches up against the hip cup.  

But while his playing career may have stalled, his passion for the Termon club never has. He’s spent time involved with successful teams at minor and U-21 level before taking over the mantle as senior boss.  

For McDaid, he’s taking every challenge as it comes towards him, never daunted by the task and always looking for improvements.   

“The big thing for me is that we only lost three league games this season and as a manager, I took far more learnings from those three defeats than the league and championship games that we won,” he said.  

“I suppose every week we go out, we try to improve and right the wrongs on any mistakes we made the week previously, so every day we go out, we’re always trying to be better than the week before.  

“I came in at the start of the championship last season, so this is my first full year in the role. It’s a great group to be a part of, we have a good bond, we have good craic, and I’m glad to be involved.  

“I absolutely do miss playing too. I see a lot of these boys as teammates, sure some of the players are even older than me.  

“There can be challenges along the way, but it’s all a learning curve. I have Kevin McDaid involved with me this season and he’s a lot more experienced in terms of playing than I was, but this is his first season involved in the management, so we made it known that we’re all on a new journey with the players, so it was new experiences all around.”  

McDaid plays down any previous results this season from his team, knowing that Sunday is the one that matters for his Termon team, with the club having already won promotion to the top tier of Donegal league football.  

And while he acknowledges the big task ahead of his side this weekend in the final, on an overall view, he notices the seismic shift the club has taken in recent times, with Termon now hosting strong underage sides, while the senior team has gone through a rebuilding period since being relegated to intermediate football in 2021.  

“I suppose for us, when we did fall down to intermediate football, we started with a bit of a rebuild,” McDaid said.   

“It’s been brilliant for us this season, we’ve had our seniors getting promoted to Division 1, our reserves won the Division 2 league, and now the intermediate final, that just pushes the whole thing on in the club, and now we’re just one game away from making the step up, but we know we have a big challenge to get over first in Naomh Columba.   

“Since our minor team won the championship in 2019, there has been that shift in mindset in the club. There have been teams who haven’t won silverware since then, but we’re now always competing at U-21 and minor and even young groups too.  

“So, we’re definitely knocking on the door, but for now, it’s all about this weekend. We’re in a final and we’d love to go that step further.”