Donegal minor captain Gallagher learning tips from the best

Donal Gallagher is one of four surviving members of last year's Donegal minor team that is back on board again for this season.

The Glenswilly teenager has also been elevated to team captain this season by manager Luke Barrett. “After training one day Luke just pulled me aside and said that he wanted me to be captain and that was all that was too it really,” Gallagher, a Leaving Certificate student at St Eunan’s College in Letterkenny, said.

“It is a great honour to be captain and to be representing the club. Michael Murphy has been captain of the county seniors for the last 10 or 11 years and he is a great role model and hopefully I will follow in his example.”

“Michael is the club minor manager this year. I chat to him regularly at club training and he does give me nuggets of advice now and again.”

After two seasons of restrictions, football, like life in general, is getting back to normal. “Yeah, it is different this year,” Gallagher added. “We had nine weeks together before the start of last year’s championship. We played a few challenge games and into the championship straight knockout and no back door.

“This year we’ve had four league games and a few friendlies before that and we have been just training and getting ready for the championship over the last few weeks.”

Donegal won three of their four games in the Ulster Minor League and just missed out on qualification for place in the league semi-final on score average to Derry.

“We were very disappointed to lose to Cavan because we did not play well on the day,” Gallagher said. “We won the other three games and at the end of the day we weren't too worried about the Cavan defeat because it was only the league.”

Last season’s Ulster final defeat to Tyrone still haunts the Donegal captain and all involved players and management.
“We felt we did not do ourselves justice last year in the final. We just didn’t turn up,” he said. “We hope to rectify it this year.

But Ulster is never easy and we are looking no further than Saturday’s game against Fermanagh. Gallagher said: “There are no easy games in Ulster and as we found out last year if you don’t turn up you are out. So all the focus is on Saturday’s game and hopefully we come out on the right side of the result.”