When we were kings: Molloy and McGilligan reflect on 'nasty' Donegal and Derry rivalry

Unlike his great Derry midfield rival during his playing days Brian McGilligan, Anthony Molloy is upbeat about Donegal’s prospects in Sunday’s huge Ulster SFC preliminary opener in Ballybofey.

The 1992 All-Ireland winning captain feels that Jim McGuinness did the necessary groundwork in the NFL and that Donegal and Derry are in two very different places in the lead-in to the weekend.

“We had a good league and got out of it exactly what we needed,” said Molloy. “Jim set out his stall early and won four games to make sure we were safe in Division 1.

“And then he used the rest of the league to give lads a rest and give other players in the panel game time.

“And the real plus in all of that - as we witnessed in Castlebar against Mayo - a number of the panel players that got a run out acquitted themselves very well.

“As a result, I think we have the strongest squad we’ve ever had and the word I’m hearing on the injury front is now much more positive too.

“That is very positive because as we all know, if you have any chance of success going forward you need big squads.

“Jim said last week that Jason McGee and Patrick McBrearty are making good progress.I’m not sure if they will be back this weekend.

“But it seems they are not far off which is very good news because they are two very important men in the set up.

“Derry, on the other hand, seem to have a lot of injuries and had a poor league and I know with the new playing rules, many felt that the league games were played at near championship pace.

“But league and championship are still different and as we know from experience, sometimes league form does not always follow through in the championship.

“We have to go no further back than the corresponding game last year. Derry were the pin-up boys. They won the league and were one of the favourites for the championship.

“And we saw what happened. Donegal defied the odds and took down Derry in their own patch and ended their Ulster ambitions and, as was proved afterwards, ultimately burst their All- Ireland championship bubble.

“I’m sure Jim will have Donegal well prepared for all eventualities. It is one of his strengths.

“There is always the danger of complacency but I simply can’t see Jim allowing that to happen.

“Knowing Derry, down the years and from own playing days, the one thing you can be sure of is that they will be competitive.

“If we were to be in the least wee bit below par it could be an anxious afternoon in Ballybofey on Sunday. After all, they are proud Derry men and they will be hurting from last year”.

One of the most famous provincial duels back in the day was that of Molloy and Oak Leaf counterpart Brian McGilligan. They were attritious and sometimes nasty as that rivalry bubbled for right through the late 80s and into the 90s.

“From my own playing days, we experienced it in 1993 - the same thing Derry might have tasted last year, I mean. And strangely enough, there are parallels.

“Derry had gone into the 1992 Ulster final as league champions and hot favourites and we turned the tables on them.

“We were down to 14 men after John Cunningham got sent off in the middle of the first half. We also lost Tony Boyle to injury in the first half too.

“But despite that, we came from a point or two down at half time and against the breeze to beat them by a couple of points. There was never much between us in those days.

“I think in all my playing days, apart from the ‘92 All-Ireland final, the second half of that season’s Ulster final was the best half of football ever played by that team.

“The ‘Wee Man’ Martin McHugh played really well and kicked four or five points. Tommy Ryan moved into full forward after Tony went off and kicked three brilliant points.

But overall, every man stood up and played out of their skins. It was backs to the walls stuff at half-time, down a couple of points and a man down.

“But we clicked. It was ‘do or die’ in that second half but we dug in and dug it out. I think that half hour of football convinced us we were good enough to go on and give the All-Ireland a right good rattle”.

But Molloy says Jim McGuinness himself has his own experience of coming up short against Derry and it might be a tale he tells this week in Convoy.

“Derry beat us in the ‘93 Ulster final on that infamous wet day in Clones, a game many argued should not have been played.

“Again, there was only a couple of points between us in that game and we were without Tony Boyle, who was injured and myself and Donal Reid were in the subs.

“We were both carrying knocks too - just patched up. I came on for the last few minutes and they just pipped us at the final whistle.

“We felt afterwards it was a game we could have won and if we had the feeling was we would have gone on to win a second All-Ireland”.

Molloy grins when the name Brian McGilligan is brought up. And with high fielding back in vogue under the new playing rules, many are reminiscing this week about that rivalry which often started before the whistle.

“In my playing days we met Derry regularly and in most of those games we came out on the right side of the results. That ‘93 Ulster final was the only championship game we lost.

“In those years, we got to know each other very well and developed a great rivalry both as a team and as individual players.

“Myself and big Brian McGilligan always ended up marking each other and there were many great battles between us. It was full-blooded and once the ball was thrown in there was no holding back.

“But it was all left on the field and we actually eventually became good friends off the field. Brian has been down in Ardara on a number occasions and we’ve always met up for a chat.

“He came down for my book launch too a few years back. It’s what I love about the GAA. We took real lumps out of each other, genuine lumps.

“But he is a real good fellow and was a great footballer and competitor and all the success he enjoyed on the field was fully deserved.”

Hard as Oak

Across the divide, Brian McGilligan remains one of Derry’s most decorated footballers and is the proud holder of two All-Star awards.

‘Big Brian’ as he was affectionately known as in his own county, says he will not be in Ballybofey on Sunday for the latest championship showdown between these north west rivals.

Even with the new rule changes, the 1993 All-Ireland winner says he just isn’t gripped by modern Gaelic football in the way he was during his playing days with Derry and his club Dungiven.

“I stopped going to the games because I could not watch them any more. Gaelic football has gone like soccer and rugby.

“All the players get behind the ball and just play it over and back the field. The new rules may bring improvement.

“But the jury is still out. After deciding to watch Kerry and Mayo on Sunday in the league final, I’m still not so sure.

“The physicality is gone out of the game. There is more physicality in ‘Dancing with the Stars’ than there is in the modern game today.”

Molloy rises highest in this midfield battle with Brian McGilligan

Nevertheless, he will watch the action unfold in Ballybofey on TV, though he does admit he is not overly optimistic about a favourable outcome for Derry.

“It does not look good for us at the minute. We are going into the game on the back of a poor league run and we have a lot of injuries

“Brendan Rogers, Gareth McKindless, Ciaran McFaul, Conor McCloskey and Anthony Tohill are all on the injured list. I know Donegal have their injuries too but still looked really good. There is depth there.

“It really depends on the injuries and if some of the lads on the treatment table are recovered in time for the weekend then who knows.

“But Donegal are the hot favourites and rightly so. But remember this time last year Derry won the league and were flying going into that opening game in Celtic Park and Donegal turned them over.

“The one thing I will say is Derry may be going into the game with the odds stacked against them and that might suit them. They certainly won’t fear Donegal. And it’s championship football so we live in hope.”

Donegal’s 4-11 to 0-17 quarter-final ambush last season saw the men in green and gold upset the Derry apple cart in a big championship encounter.

Looking back at 1992, Derry were National League champions too after they defeated Tyrone in the final.

And they arrived in St Tiernach’s Park, in Clones, for that Ulster final clash with Donegal with a bit of a swagger and were hot favourites to capture the Anglo Celt Cup.

“It was a very warm day and Clones was packed to the rafters,” McGilligan explains. “If I recall correctly, Donegal had a man sent off too.

“From memory, the first half was pretty even and we felt good at half-time. But they came out in the second half and really took the game to us and really rolled up their sleeves and got stuck in.

“Donegal won the game fair and square. They were the better team on the day. And as we know now they went on to win the All-Ireland in 1992.

“Donegal had a super team in the late 1980s and early part of the 1990s. They had quality players in big Anthony Molloy in the middle of the field, Martin McHugh, the Boyle’s Tony and Manus and Declan Bonner up front.

They had Martin Gavigan, Barry McGowan, Matt Gallagher and Noel Hegarty in defence. They were all household names at the time.

“They had been knocking at the door for a few years. I know in my early years in the Derry team we came up against them a few times and they always got the better of us and we felt we had a decent side.

“They beat us in a couple of Ulster semi-finals and then that final in ‘92. I remember thinking after Donegal won the All-Ireland that if they are good enough to win an All-Ireland so are we.

“I definitely think Donegal winning in 1992 was a big spur for us. Alright, Down had won in ‘91. But Down had won All-Irelands before.

“Donegal were first-time All-Ireland winners and we were looking to win our breakthrough first All-Ireland too.

“And as the history books show, we did win the All-Ireland the following year. We beat Donegal in the Ulster final on that famous wet day, the heavens opened in Clones.

“Whatever about the merits or otherwise, whether the game should have been played or not, the only thing that matters to us is that we won.

“We went on to beat Dublin in the semi-final, Cork in the final and to win our first and, as it has turned out since, our only senior All-Ireland.

“We went on to win a couple of National Leagues, beating Donegal in both finals in 1995 and 1996. But did not get to lift the Sam Maguire Cup again.

And what about those seismic coming togethers with Molloy?

“The rivalry was such that it was no great secret that we did not like each other. But that was on the pitch. Off the pitch, I think both sets of players had the height of respect for each other.

“That certainly was the case with me and Anthony. We usually ended up marking each other. Anthony did what he had to do, what it took to win and I was the exact same. There was no standing back.

“But once the final whistle blew, it was a handshake. And whatever had gone on during the game was in the past and left behind on the field.

“Myself and Anthony ended on good terms and I have met him a number of times since and we always have a good chat.

“I was down in Ardara a few years after with the club here in Dungiven. We played Ardara in a challenge game. It was a great night and we were so well looked after.

“I’ve met him at a few functions since over the years and we always have a good chat. Anthony is a sound man but always did what had to be done for Donegal on the field.

“Even back then, I was so delighted for Anthony when he climbed the steps of the Hogan Stand to raise aloft the Sam Maguire Cup. And I know the feeling was mutual 12 months later when I got my chance”.