McShea's Say: All-Stars for Oisin Gallen and Peadar Mogan brings pride to Donegal

I was delighted to see both Oisin Gallen and Peadar Mogan rewarded for their excellent football this year and they are both genuine and most deserving winners of their All-Star awards.  

Gallen is gifted with great balance and is equally good with both feet. He can deliver the perfect pass with either hand, and he has an extraordinarily wise head for such a young man. He seems to just love playing, and where others would shy away from pressure, he revels in it.  

Like all exceptional footballers, he glories in responsibility. The bigger the occasion the better he plays and his remarkable vision enables him to split a defence with a pinpoint accurate pass.  

Gallen is just a natural leader and an inspiration to the younger players on the Donegal team. 

A lot of Donegal players have the ability to play in many positions, which has good and bad points . . . Peadar Mogan is one such player. He has extraordinary natural ability with a great range of skills.  

Like Gallen, he is equally adaptable with both feet and on the pitch, he is a serious player with incredible mental strength.  

With all naturally gifted players, everyone wants to beat them, and players like Gallen and Mogan don’t always get the protection they deserve, but both can turn a game with a flash of brilliance and no player has ever been rewarded with an All-Star without being very capable of looking after themselves.  

Both All-Star winners are blessed with warm and kind personalities, they are a credit to their families and to Donegal football, and this accolade is the next best award to the elusive All-Ireland medal.  

To Gallen and Mogan, and the other Donegal players who were honoured with All-Star nominations, they all have time on their side, and it is our hope that there will be even more Donegal players in contention this time next year.  

St Eunan’s are narrow losers in Ulster 

St Eunan’s best football of the year saw then pipped in injury time in their Ulster club match against Errigal Ciarán at the weekend in Healy Park.  

This was a very good game of football, but that will be of little consolation to the Letterkenny outfit.  

Winning in Ulster has proved extremely difficult for Donegal champions for many years, but on this occasion, Eunan’s have no reason to bemoan the inclination to take time out occasionally which was a negative feature of their Donegal campaign, as they were in serious contention in the final moments of this match.  

Eunan’s have a history of emerging from their occasional periods of hibernation and springing a surprise on unsuspecting hot favourites and it looked for much of this game that they were playing well enough to prevail.

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While it is always churlish in defeat to mention the referee, one call in the vital closing minutes when possession was paramount saw the winners get a free after a ruck with many players involved when a throw-in was the only decision.  

While the Man of the Match award is often subjective and it is seldom that you see a player from the losing team win the award, there could be no dispute with the winner on Saturday night. Shane O'Donnell had arguably his best game for either his club or county jersey.  

He scored four exceptional points, and his effort with the left foot was a thing of beauty. But it was not only his accuracy that caught the eye, his work rate was exceptional, and he looked phenomenal throughout.  

This was a disappointing defeat for the Donegal champions, but when they analyse the balance sheet, they are very much in profit in terms of getting a settled team, with a considerable sense of purpose. But they will be very aware that retaining the Donegal crown next year will be a formidable challenge. It always is. 

Brilliant Belleek  

Our neighbours in Belleek had a wonderful win in Sunday’s Fermanagh final when they beat hot favourites Enniskillen Gaels by four points.  

After going five-points down early in the first half, it looked as if the side managed by Donegal’s former manager Declan Bonner were in real trouble, but after their confident display in the drawn final a week previously, I still believed that they had the capacity to win this final.  

In both games, the winners looked by far the fitter team, which was a tribute to Declan’s second in command, former Donegal player Paul Brennan.  

In coming from West Donegal two to three times a week, there was only one outcome in this campaign that would have satisfied Bonner. That was to see his team bring the county championship trophy back to Belleek after 43 long years, and it must be a wonderful sense of satisfaction for Declan to have delivered.  

The Donegal man has devoted a huge chunk of his life to playing at the top level and managing at this level too. This was a display of true grit by the Belleek side, and their confidence was clearly honed on the training ground with Declan and Paul over many months.  

In a team where every player excelled, Ultan Kelm had a magnificent game, but the pride in the club jersey was a credit to the team. They are to be congratulated on this outstanding achievement. 

Sympathy 

The very sad death of Aidan Doherty at the weekend was a shock to all of those who had the privilege of knowing the most popular retired Stranorlar Vocational teacher. 

Everywhere he went, Aidan took with him a word of good cheer, a friendly joke and a hearty smile. He will be sorely missed by his wife Noreen, and to the McGowan and Doherty families, I extend my sincere sympathy.