Naomh Columba's Kevin McNern glad to get opening day points on the board

Naomh Columba got the new football season off to a fine start against Letterkenny Gaels as Kevin McNern kicked three of the points in the 1-14 to 0-11 win.

It was Gaels’ first ever outing in Division 2 of the All-County-Football League but the Naomh Columba dashing corner-forward was on fire and even reverted to a deeper position in the second half. And he raked the skies over the Glebe with a number of majestic high fetches from Paddy Byrne’s kickouts.

Sunday was a day of many firsts. It was the first ever meeting between the two clubs at adult level and it was Naomh Columba’s first ever game at the Glebe.

“It is good to get the points on the board on the first day out. We knew coming up here it was going to be a sticky one,” said man of the match McNern. “It was the first time we played up here and we knew coming up out of Division 3 last year they would be looking to lay down a marker on the first day out.”

Naomh Columba led 1-9 to 0-4 at half-time after having the strong downfield win in their backs in the opening 30 minutes.
“The plan was to use the wind to our advantage and we did and we went in a few points up at half-time,” McNern added. “We knew with the wind they would put it up to us in the second half and we did well to grind out the result at the end.

And McNern played no small part in stemming the tide in the second half when he moved out around the middle of the field.
“That is part of the game plan to come out the field and win a few kick outs and lucky enough it worked out for us.”
It was a winning return for club stalwart Paddy J McGinley who has taken over the manager’s reins, at Pairc Na NaGael again.

“Paddy is no stranger to us,” McNern said. “We had him as manager three years ago and we had him before that too. Paddy knows all the players and all the players know him.”

Naomh Columba claimed the win without three of their top players. Odhran Doherty who is with the Donegal seniors and Paul O’Hare and Eric Carr are on the county U-20 team. McNern added: “We had a few boys missing which probably shows the depth of the squad. We had a few lads that made their senior debuts there today.”

And while he acknowledges that bigger challenges lie ahead he feels they have a panel strong enough to be in the running for a long overdue return to the top run of Donegal football.

“Promotion in the league is the number one objective and we will worry about the championship when it comes around.”