‘We are all hungry for places,’ says Naomh Conaill’s Dermot Molloy

A combination of raw wounds from last year’s county final defeat and a real fight for starting slots, is driving this Naomh Conaill side to a surging start in the All-County Football League.

Killybegs were their latest victims and although they will surely face stiffer opposition down the line, this team minus regulars, have a real formidable look.

Dermot Molloy has signalled a clear intent that he wants that starting jersey as do the rest of his colleagues.
He hit a most notable 1-5 with a few beauties thrown in ahead of his big stag do in Prague in two weeks’ time. But you get the impression that nothing is going to stand in his way this season as he reflected on another impressive win for his club.

“It’s good to be back playing football and we are obviously missing quite a few players, but we have a very strong squad there and we still have a good balance between younger and older players,” he said. “We are knuckling down to it.

“There are a few lads in Las Vegas, and I have my own stag in a few weeks- time so there will be more lads away at that one”.
But it is clear that “Naomh Conaill are going flat out this year, with two wins from two following up from an opening round victory against Ardara.

“You have to go for it,” Molloy added. “We are all hungry for places and obviously there is massive disappointment from the final last year, but we know that every game in the League, we can’t come in with a half-assed attitude and we treat every game and team with the same respect. But we go hard at it, and it is a good thing that we have in Naomh Conaill.”

Last November, Naomh Conaill weer beaten 1-11 to 0-4 by St Eunan’s in the final of the Donegal SFC and when asked about the lingering impact of that defeat, Molloy said: “We did not play the way we can play and that is very disappointing. We made mistakes on the day and St Eunan’s played very well and they had the hunger, and we were going for three-in-row and we got pipped on the day.

“We had a tough championship run against Gaoth Dobhair and Kilcar but we were beaten on the day by a very good St Eunan’s team and they are going to be there for a very long time. It is in the back of our heads and the wounds from it are very fresh.

“We just have to knuckle down over the next few months, and it will be quite a while before we see championship football, but it will be a target obviously”.

When it is suggested that he and John O’Malley are making big statements for starting, Molloy added: “The way the game is played now maybe it does not suit forwards to an extent as it is out the field.

“We all tackle back, and you have to and if you don’t you will be caught out and referring back to the final last year, we just did not get the usual contact we get on teams. Maybe it was tiredness throughout, but we work hard and every man from one to 30 just gives it everything in training and whoever gets the jersey gets the jersey and that is how we roll with it.