Niall O'Donnell silences critics as he nears the end of the long 2024 road

St Eunan’s forward Niall O’Donnell had a number of reasons to be happy after Sunday’s Donegal SFC final, not least to stick it to the team's naysayers and critics. 

Nobody could afford to question his performance, particularly in the second half. His linkup with Conor O’Donnell Jr, Ciaran Moore and Shane O’Donnell in the attack carried flexibility, power, and accuracy, three key elements that swarmed the Cathedral men to the 16th county title. 

His shot which nailed off the upright in the 36th minute proved a gift from the gods, with Pauric Boyle springing first to the rebound and laying it to O’Donnell Jr to place into the Dungloe net. 

In one simple attack, the tide turned for the men in black and amber. Twisting the game to suit them is something the Letterkenny team has now done for decades. They spit out crises like loose teeth.  

O’Donnell sees it as a culmination of hard work and never giving in, even when not everyone believes in them. 

“When you meet for the very first time with St Eunan’s, the ambition is to win the Dr Maguire Cup, that’s always the aim, but it’s never easy, and this season it wasn’t easy either,” O’Donnell said following his side’s 1-13 to 1-10 win over Dungloe.  

“We’ve had a tough championship season, so for us to win it, there’s so much emotion and we’re just happy to have gotten over the line. 

“We’re a big club but at the same time, we’re very small, we’re a close-knit community and we couldn’t be happier to be honest.” 

It almost felt like the never-ending season for O’Donnell and his inter-county teammates from Letterkenny, and he’s not afraid to express the heartache they had to quickly pick themselves up from last July in the All-Ireland semi-final. 

There’s been critics along the way, something he sees as undeserving to men who give so much. 

“Look there is pressure on us to go out to perform in this club,” he added. “On top of that, myself, Shane O’Donnell, Caolan Ward, Shaun Patton, and Ciaran Moore, we’ve had a long year, and that’s not easy going from the devastating defeat in the All-Ireland semi-final against Galway back to the club and trying to lift your spirits then for the club championship. 

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“But it has to be done. In St Eunan’s there is that bit of pressure and that doesn’t help when the club chairman is on social media giving you a little touch as well, that’s hard because we’re trying to do our best and the work that some of the boys get through is massive. 

“It’s never nice when you have the chairman having a little word about you on social media, that annoyed me because I don’t think that would happen in many other clubs, but it can drive us on at the same time, but it’s not needed because we know ourselves when we’re not playing well, we don’t need reminding of that. 

“Look, we didn’t play well against Gaoth Dobhair, but we drove on and we’re delighted with the year we’ve had, and to win today is just amazing. This season has been the stuff you dream of, to be playing with your county and to be playing with your club is great, and if you can win with both it makes it better.” 

O’Donnell points to that little extra spark of experience on top of the mountain, which perhaps proved the difference between St Eunan’s and Dungloe.  

With the game level as the clock struck 60 minutes following a controversial penalty, whatever hope the Dungloe men had was quickly melted away, as the Eunan’s men highlighted the ruthlessness of champions to tag three more points and win the game. 

“I think we probably deserved the win just about in the end, but there was nothing between the teams,” O’Donnell pointed out. “A lot of people wanted to say there was probably a bigger gap between us, but in a final, there’s never going to be a lot between the sides.  

“The scores came easier for us in the second half than the first half, then there was the penalty which is something I’ve never seen before. I’m not sure if it is a rule or not, so I can’t complain too much on it. Look, it’s over and we’ll enjoy ourselves now.”