Next up Naomh Conaill for Killybegs' new management team

Killybegs got the new football season off to a flying start with a 1-10 to 1-6 win in Division One of the ACFL away to Glenswilly.

It was a good start to the new rookie joint-management team of Shane Molloy and Antoine O’Hara, just a few weeks after taking on the job.

“It is a good win,” Shane Molloy said afterwards. “We came up with a very young side and we did not know what we are coming up against so we are just delighted to get the two points.

“We lost Evan Broderick to injury in the warm up just two minutes before the game. So for the young side to get a win away from home without a key player, Evan given we were already without Hugh McFadden and Eoghan Ban Gallagher is good. Evan is a huge player for us and he is a very good lad.”

Shane Molloy has been one of the clubs leading players for well over a decade and Anthony Hara has been the clubs first team goalkeeper for a good number of years.

In light of the fact the management team are only a few weeks in the job, three weeks in the job Saturday’s evening win in Glenswilly is a real shot in the arm. Hugh McFadden is also a member of the management team.

“We are only three weeks in the job. There was a lot of toing and froing and there was nothing really happening. So myself and Antoine said we would take it on behalf of the players and do the management end of things. I played last season and please God I'll be playing again before the end of the year. I said I would help out for a while at this end of things. It is great to have Hugh on board as well. He is a great lad and we are all very proud of him.

It was the quality of the young players available which convinced Shane and Anthony they had to step in to take on the manager's job.
“We have a group of very good young players that came through in the last few years," Molloy added. “Players like Seamus Og Byrne, Christopher Mulligan, Jack McSharry. They are all quality players.

“Seamus Óg Byrne is playing for DCU and you can see the difference in him this year and Christopher Mulligan was part of the U20 county panel last year. Jack McSharry is a class act.

“It is a completely new team. There was no Ciaran Conaghan this evening. We didn’t have Hugh McFadden and Eoghan Ban Gallagher so these lads had to step up and I know we rode our luck and Corey Byrne had to pull off a number of good saves.

As for goals and targets for the season Molloy admitted talk of targets for the season hadn’t been discussed.

“We have Naomh Conaill next and we want to do as well as we can against them - that is the next goal,” Molloy added. “They are going to be a completely different challenge. I know we have them in Fintra but Glenties are a tough seasoned side. We are a young and inexperienced side. They know how to win and we just hope to really compete with them.”