Glenswilly, St Michael’s and Aodh Ruadh the dark horses - Kevin Mulhern

St Eunan's, Naomh Conaill and Kilcar remain the top three and the fancied teams in the race for the Donegal SFC crown - but don’t write off St Michael's, Aodh Ruadh or Glenswilly, says Kevin Mulhern.

Mulhern was an Ulster U-21 winner under Jim McGuinness along with Michael Murphy, Mark McHugh, Paddy McGrath and Martin McElhinney in 2010 and started McGuinness’s first Allianz League match as Donegal boss a year later.

The Cloughaneely clubman is currently on his way back from ACL surgery after missing all of Cloughaneely’s intermediate championship run last season after picking up the injury during their first league match of the campaign against Ardara.

“St Eunan's, Glenties and Kilcar are the top three alright but I feel St Michael's, Ballyshannon and Glenswilly are up there too or close to them and I wouldn’t be writing any of them off completely, ” says Mulhern.

“St Michael's were in the semi-final last year and lost to St Eunan’s, there was not that much in it and they played a good portion of that game with 14 men (after Liam Paul Ferry was sent off).

“I know they had mixed form in the league but they were without Michael Langan for a good part of it and when he did comeback he was carrying an injury. By all accounts the injuries have cleared up. Michael is a big player for St Michael's and going on reports he played very well for them last Sunday in their big win over Milford.

“They don’t have Colm Anthony McFadden or Christy Toye anymore but Martin McElhiinney is still playing and they are playing him in at full-forward and he is playing well in there. Andrew Kelly scored 1-4 last Sunday against Milford, all from play, and they have Stephen Doak and Liam Paul Ferry, other lads with loads of experience.

“And they have a number of good young players like Carlos O’Reilly, Colin McFadden and Hugh O’Donnell. Raymond McLaughlin and Cathal Sweeney have them in good shape and they seem to be hitting form at the right time.

“They play Glenties this weekend at the Bridge. It should be an interesting tie. And regardless how it goes I think St Michael's have done enough at this stage to qualify for the last eight. Aodh Ruadh are two from two having ground out victories against Bundoran and then Ardara, under the management of John McNulty, the former Kilcar boss.

“Aodh Ruadh is another team on the up,” Mulhern adds. “They had a very good league and they have won their first two games against Bundoran and Ardara and are on four points. They are at home to St Naul’s who are struggling a bit and I expect they will move on to six points.

“Glenswilly have shown form in defeating St Naul’s on the road seven days after a more than useful draw against Naomh Conaill to start things off.

“Glenswilly are another team you cannot write off,” Mulhern says. “They may have been relegated but any team that has Michael Murphy, who by all reports is playing very well, cannot be written off. They have good young lads like Jack Gallagher, at centre half back, Caoimhinn Marley, in the middle of the field and they have Kealan Dunleavy.

They are playing Glenfin this weekend in Glenfin in what is a local derby clash. Glenfn had a very good league but after losing to Killybegs and to Gaoth Dobhair, narrowly, last weekend, they will be anxious to get points on the board. But given Glenswilly's two outings and given the form Michael Murphy has shown against Glenties and St Nauls, you would fancy Glenswilly for the win. None of the big teams will want to draw them in the quarter-final.”

Gaoth Dobhair and Sean MacCumhaill’s, who meet on Sunday evening in Magheragallon, are also in the top six at the moment. Gaoth Dobhair are on four points following wins over Ardara and Glenfin while MacCumhaills are a point behind on three following draw with St Michael's and win over Four Masters.

“I haven’t seen MacCumhaill’s but they had a good win over Four Masters in the last round and we drew with Four Masters in the opening game,” Mulhern adds. “But they have two class forwards in Oisin Gallen and Joel Bradley Walsh and they also have Marty O’Reilly.

“We played Gaoth Dobhair recently in a challenge game and they had only two players on that day from the team that won the championship a few years ago. We had a strong team out but they were too good for us. The young lads they brought in just slotted into the team and got on with it.

“Odhrán MacNiallais is carrying an injury and Dáire Ó Baoill has been travelling. Niall Friel and Odhrán McFadden are both out for the year. They are all key men for them and huge losses.”

Killybegs are within touching distance of the top eight after an opening day win over Glenfin and loss to Naomh Conaill last weekend. They are home to Milford this weekend. The win over Glenfin was a big one for Killybegs and with Hugh McFadden playing well at full-forward and Eoghan Bán Gallagher around midfield I would fancy them at home against Milford,” Mulhern adds. “That would move them onto four points and in the running for a quarter-final berth.”


Four Masters and Cloughaneely, after their opening round draw in Tir Conaill Park, need points to be in with a chance of making it through to the knockout stages. Four Masters are home to Bundoran and Cloughaneely are away to champions St Eunan’s at O’Donnell Park.

“The draw has not been very kind to us,” Mulhern says of his own club. “We had Kilcar last Saturday night at home and they were awesome. We had no answer for them. They played the game at a tremendous pace and kicked scores from all over, long and short. St Eunan’s are the champions and it is another tall order for us being realistic we are just hoping for a kinder draw for round four.”

Mulhern predicts another big win for Kilcar again this weekend when they take on struggling Ardara, in Towney. He's hoping to have his first game in over a year for Cloughaneely reserves against St Eunan’s.

Donegal SFC
Saturday
St Eunan's V Cloughaneely 13:30,
Killybegs V Milford 14:00,
Four Masters V Bundoran 16:00
Sunday
Aodh Ruadh V St Naul's 13:30
Glenswilly V Glenfin 14:00
St Michael's V Naomh Conaill 14:00
Kilcar V Ardara 15:00
Gaoth Dobhair V Sean Mac Cumhaill 16:30