Johnny McLoone in the colours of Naomh Conaill
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.
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.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.