Disappointment of 2022 county final drove Shane O'Donnell and St Eunan's to glory

St Eunan’s man Shane O’Donnell took a few moments to step away from the tsunami of supporters on the field in MacCumhaill Park to reflect on what has been a long but rewarding season. 

The half-forward played a vital role in seeing his St Eunan’s side overcome Dungloe in a 1-13 to 1-10 victory during Sunday’s county final, with the Cathedral Town winning back the Dr Maguire Cup for the first time since 2021. 

For O’Donnell and his team, it was their first county final appearance since the Donegal star was controversially sent off two years ago, which played a major part in that year’s decider, resulting in Naomh Conaill coming from behind to snatch the victory. 

READ NEXT: St Eunan's hold their nerve to finally see off Dungloe and land a 16th Donegal SFC

For the younger O’Donnell brother, that hurt from 2022 was a major driving force for him and his side to reclaim the Donegal County title for the 16th time in their history. 

“The final from two years ago against Naomh Conaill had its own bit of controversy, and that was a big factor to drive me on, and the team too,” he said following his side’s win. 

“Even last season we used it as motivation to win a county title, but obviously that didn’t happen when we fell short in the semi-final, but thankfully, we rectified it this season. 

“I think we played some really good football and expressed ourselves all season in this championship. For me, the loss two seasons ago in the county final was a tough one to take but we got the result we needed and we’ll enjoy ourselves in Letterkenny tonight and probably tomorrow too.” 

Despite Dungloe leading throughout the match and holding the favourites St Eunan’s 0-4 apiece at the break, the Cathedral men rose through the gears in the second half, with Conor O’Donnell Jr’s goal one of the key moments in deciding the victory for St Eunan’s. 

But despite leading going into the dying minutes, Dungloe were controversially awarded a penalty for an off-the-ball incident inside the box, leaving it for Ryan Connors to slot home and level the match. 

But it was an incident that failed to faze O’Donnell and his side, who hit the next three points in the space of three minutes as they sailed home for the victory.  

“Yeah, we ended on a high thankfully and are deserving champions today,” he said. “I thought we played really well, but as things go there are always a few controversies, they got a penalty at the end, but we recovered well to kick three big scores and hold out for the win. 

“It was a tough year for us and we had nothing easy, there were some tough battles along the way, from the group stages all the way to the final, so, we’re delighted to get over the line and bring the cup back to Letterkenny.  

“I suppose over the past few games in this championship we didn’t play overly well in the second half, but for some reason that changed today. They scored straight from the throw-in, but we recovered after with a goal that proved to be the difference. 

“Even when they got the goal in injury time, we hit three more points to go three up, so we had a never-say-die attitude which is fantastic.”