Neil McGee praises young talent for second-half turnaround in Senior B final

Gaoth Dobhair man Neil McGee said his team was forced to dig deep at halftime during Sunday’s Donegal senior B final to come from behind and emerge deserving 2-5 to 0-6 winners against St Eunan’s in MacCumhaill Park. 

With the Gaeltacht men failing to register a score until the 26th minute, it looked all destined for a St Eunan’s victory, but McGee’s side was fortunate to crawl back to a 0-4 point to 0-2 scoreline at the break but the message was clear that their performance to that point was no way good enough to win.  

“Yeah, I think it seems to be the way with our team, we like to leave it late to come into the game,” McGee said after the reserve final.  

“We were sussing things out in the first half by the looks of it and we just weren’t up to standard. There were a few harsh words at halftime because we needed lads to step up, but thankfully the younger boys took hold of the game in the second half and got moving when the space opened for them. 

“We were lucky that there were only two points in it at halftime, we were still in the game but we knew we didn’t do ourselves justice in the first half.” 

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And it was a different story in the second half when the goal that Gaoth Dobhair threatened for so long arrived on 40 minutes, with Jamie Doherty breaking from defence before Fergal Delaney lashed to the roof of the St Eunan’s net to edge Gaoth Dobhair into the lead for the first time. 

Seán Ó Baoill doubled the lead on 46 minutes and they were on their way when Eamon McGee found Martin Coyle in space and he found the corner of the St Eunan’s net two minutes later which set them up for the win. 

For McGee, he expressed pride in the effort of the young Gaoth Dobhair side to come from behind and find a way to win. 

“We have a lot of good players here in this team coming through from minor level, they all played well today, and even the lads who came off the bench, they were really strong and added to our strength to see the game out,” he said. 

“Reserve teams can tire a lot in the second half as the match goes on, so, we needed to bring in fresh lads and keep the fitness levels high, and we did that thankfully.” 

With Gaoth Dobhair striving at underage and with the senior side being backboned by a large number of younger players, McGee admits that his club is not going anywhere anytime soon and hopes they will continue to develop. 

He has also had the chance to see the club grow firsthand with his involvement with the minor team, despite his work with the Donegal County senior team as a coach under Jim McGuinness. 

“We won the last two U-21 championships, and our minor team were unlucky to be beaten by Naomh Conaill in the semi-final, so, there’s a lot of young players coming through that have real quality,” McGee said. 

“We already see the boys this season getting their chance at senior level, so we’re not going anywhere at the minute in Gaoth Dobhair. 

“It might take two or three years to develop where we can challenge the top teams, be hopefully we won’t be far away. 

“Obviously, I didn’t get much training with the reserves being away with the county senior team all year, but when I came back to the club, I really enjoyed it. I still enjoy playing, and then I’m involved with the minor team too, it’s great to be a part of that in producing players for the senior team, that’s what it’s about.”