Four Masters looking to make hay once again in Ulster minor championship

The winter weather in this country may be dark, damp, and dreary but there’s a certain glow around Four Masters as they continue their Ulster adventure into a third Christmas in-a-row. 

Over the last decade, the town has become more known for its summer tourism than its sporting success, but the town’s minor football team has over the past three seasons put them firmly on the GAA map as they look to become the first Donegal side to reach a third Ulster minor club championship final on the trot. 

As reigning Ulster champions but with the minor system moved from U-17 back to its original age structure at U-18s, given last year’s side another crack a more success, there was always going to be a strong likelihood that Four Masters would be Donegal’s representatives at the St Paul’s tournament in 2024. 

Currently, the winning of trophies appears to happening naturally. Firstly, Ulster and All-Ireland B glory last spring for the Abbey Vocational School, followed by an U-21 county crown, the club’s first in 23 years, while the minor county title was won in October. 

For Odie McBride, one of the joint Four Masters minor managers, the idea is to manage the time with the amount of football being played. 

“Since we won the Donegal championship over seven weeks ago, we’ve been under time pressure in terms of getting together as a group, but we made a decision for the player’s welfare and to also give them time to recuperate that we wouldn’t train them too hard,” he told Donegal Live. 

“We did a few video analysis sessions but we never went onto the pitch until two weeks ago when we came to Convoy one night. But the reason we do that is because we don’t want them burned out before the big games and we want them to perform to the best of their ability. 

“We want to keep the lads fresh because they’re playing high-end stuff against good players for their school and club. Of course, they’re good players but we don’t want them suffering from fatigue especially now when we’re coming into Christmas.” 

There’s never a guarantee that underage success will bear the fruit of future glory at senior level, but it was a risk that many in Four Masters decided to take when the St Eunan’s Academy model was replicated in Donegal Town a decade ago in the hope of developing young talent. 

“We probably knew when we had this group early in their development that we had some good players and clinical finishers, and that’s what wins big games,” McBride added when talking about the key to his side’s repeated victories through the underage ranks. 

“I think in the past we’ve always had players that could find that big score or get a goal that would give us that breathing space in big matches against big teams. 

“We’ve had setbacks along the way, for example, we were beaten twice earlier in the year against Naomh Conaill and Gaoth Dobhair, so sometimes you learn more in losing games too and we definitely learned from those two games. 

“But yeah, we’ve had good success over the years and we have strong underage teams coming through from U-12 to minor. We need to see that carry into U-21 and then into senior level too and we saw that this year.” 

But for now, Four Masters’ focus is firmly on Cookstown Fr Rock’s, who will be their opposition on St Stephen’s Day following the Tyrone champion’s five-point win over Mayobridge when they landed five points in five minutes to secure a 0-19 to 1-11 scoreline after extra-time. 

Masters were brought to the wire against the Monaghan champions Scotstown in the quarter-final, only to advance with a one-point win, but the Donegal Town side will hope to have a clean bit of health back for the semi-final after a number of absentees in the opening round. 

For McBride and the rest of the management team, the message is simple, for their side to not get ahead of themselves.  

“I think this Ulster competition is one of those championships where you have to respect the opponents because they’re the champions of their county, so they’re going to be good,” he said.  

“Against Scotstown, we knew that they were a team full of tradition and pride, they were a very good side, had good movement off the ball, and moved the ball fast.  

“I think we were caught off our men a number of times in that game and we were punished heavily which put us under a bit of pressure, but our defending in the last eight minutes or so was exceptional. 

“I think our lads seem to have this ability to come up with big plays at the big moments, not just as a group, but also as individuals. I think that can be the difference between getting those wins and being beaten early in the competition. 

“You might have a player who does something individually, like make the big block or make the running burst off the shoulder and get the score, that’s the difference. Thankfully it happened against Scotstown the last day and no doubt come St Stephen’s Day it’ll be the exact same where the match will come down to the wire.”