Tobin feels 2022 foundation can stand Donegal U-20s in good stead

What has gone before is in the past for the Donegal U-20 footballers and it is all about looking ahead to the forthcoming season.

A season begins this Saturday with Donegal hosting Derry, in Ballybofey, in the first round of the Larry Murphy Cup.
St Eunan’s player Tobin is one of nine survivors from last season’s Donegal who made it through to the semi-final of the Ulster championship and a second half collapse against Monaghan at Brewster Park.

Donegal had beaten Armagh in the preliminary round, in Ballybofey and Tyrone, in the quarter-final in Omagh before facing Monaghan, in the last four clash.

Donegal played some delightful football in the first half and their half-time 0-9 to 1-1 lead told its own story. it was not a true reflection of their dominance and they were a little unlucky not to be further ahead.

But an almost total collapse in the second half saw Monaghan finish the game five point winners. The final score was Monaghan 2-10 to 1-11, while an injury time goal from Termon’s Ryan McFadden took the real bad look of the final score.

“Last year’s semi-final defeat and the manner of it was very disappointing at the time and it does leave us with bad memories,” said the tenacious defender.

“But that is in the past and our total focus is on the season ahead and getting ready for Armagh in the first round of the championship.

“This season is great because we have the warm-up competition coming up over the next few weeks. Last year we had no warm up games to prepare for the championship. And we did not know if there was going to football at all due to the pandemic.

“Then when we learned there was going to be football it was just straight into the championship with only a few weeks to get ready for it. This time last year we were in lockdown and not allowed to train. The lockdown was not lifted until May and it was June before we were allowed full contact training.

“We’ve been back training since after Christmas and we’ve also got games with the colleges in the Sigerson Cup and other college competitions.”

Tobin, a second year Business Studies student at Letterkenny IT was a member of their side that had a good run of games in the Sigerson Cup, losing out eventually to NUI Galway in the quarter-finals.

“Sigerson was very good and the two teams we lost to University of Limerick and NUI Galway are in the final,” Tobin added.
“We should have beaten Galway, there were only three points in it. At the end we gave Limerick a run for their money for three quarters of the game before they pulled away from us.

“Emmet Maguire, Kealan Dunleavy, Sean Doherty, Jack Gallagher and Eoin Dowling were all on the LyiT as well and all that football at high level should stand to us.”

Donegal are in a four team group in the Larry Murphy U-20 League. Derry, Roscommon and Mayo are the other three teams who will play each other over the next three weekends. They begin with Derry, in Ballybofey on Saturday.

“They are all good quality opposition,” Tobin says. “Derry won the minor All-Ireland two years ago, Roscommon were beaten All-Ireland U-20 finalists from last year and Mayo are always at minor and U-20. We play them once over the next three weeks and they are all good quality opposition and ideal preparation for the championship and the clash with Armagh.”