The All-County League Division 1 is a three-horse race once again - McLoone

Naomh Conaill, St Eunan’s and Kilcar are once again the front runners as the All-County-Football League gets underway this weekend.

That is the view of former Naomh Conaill player Johnny McLoone. He believes that such is the gap between those three and the chasing pack, he did not see anything last season to suggest there were any challengers on the horizon.

“It is hard to look past Naomh Conaill, St Eunans and Kilcar,” says McLoone, an Ulster minor championship winner with Donegal in 1996. “They are the three top three teams. Gaoth Dobhair and St Michael’s were up there too and challenging for a number of years but they have dropped back.

“I see Gaoth Dobhair has appointed Trevor Alcorn as manager. It is an interesting appointment; he had good success with Termon at underage and won a couple of championships and he also worked with Francie Friel with the Termon ladies the year they won the All-Ireland club in 2014.

“There is no doubt that Gaoth Dobhair has talent. I’m not sure what happened in the last few years but it hasn’t happened for them. The one man I feel they need to get free from injury and fit again is Eamon McGee. I think Eamon is a key player for them.

“I rate him very highly. I think he was in the top five players in the Donegal team that won the All-Ireland in 2012.
“He is a very intelligent player and a good user of the ball. They need an injury free Eamon McGee playing out around the middle of the field conducting things.”

St Michael’s won a first Division 1 title back in 2015 and lost the 2011 Donegal SFC final to Glenswilly. “St Michael’s looked like they were about to make the breakthrough a few years ago but they have dropped back a bit,” McLoone adds.

“They are still in the top half of the league and they have Michael Langan who is a class player. But their problem is that Christy Toye and Colm McFadden are getting on. They were two quality players and they haven’t replaced them.

“By all accounts they have a number of good young players coming through and there may be a few years left in Martin McElhinney. They will be in the top half again this year in the league.”

If there is a team to break from the pack to challenge the big three, McLoone feels it could be a surprise package. “Killybegs had a very good U-21 five or six years ago and I thought at the time they would come through,” he says. “But they haven’t. They have a new management team as Shane Molloy and Antony O’Hara have taken on the role jointly. It will be interesting to see how they get on. They certainly have the players, so they could make the breakthrough. They are worth watching.”

The leagues underwent an overhaul over the winter break. Divisions 1 and 3 are made up of 13 teams and Division Two has 14 teams. The 2022 leagues across all four divisions get underway this weekend with games on Saturday and Sunday. Teams will be without their county players for the leagues.