Backs are the future for Callaghan and Glenswilly

Cormac Callaghan and his Glenswilly side take their unbeaten run into the third series of fixtures in the Donegal SFC when they welcome Glenfin tomorrow.

Having won three senior crowns in the county between 2011 and 2016, the wheels of change are evident in Glenswilly with a host of new players coming through the ranks and a more offensive philosophy as they aim for a knock-out place for the first time since 2018.

“We made it our goal to go one better than last year,” Callaghan said. “We’re making the right steps to do that but we’re not there yet. We've a massive task against a Glenfin side you never get anything easy against and it’ll be a massive battle.”

Glenswilly raised a few eyebrows to take a point from Naomh Conaill on weekend one in a 2-8 to 1-11 draw and followed that up with a 2-12 to 0-13 success against St Naul’s in Mountcharles - a place where they lost last year - despite losing Caolan Kelly to a red card late in the first half.

At that juncture, Glenswilly were 1-8 to 0-3 ahead and that was the foundation upon which the victory was built. 

“Glenties have been the standard-bearers now for the last couple of years and I suppose any point you can pick up in the championship is golden really,” Callaghan added. “We learned that last year when we got caught late - like against St Naul’s - so any point on the board is a point gained. 

“We got out ahead early and that was needed when it ended frustratingly enough really. We made a few errors and gave St Naul’s a bit of a platform. With 14 men any championship game is going to be tough and overall we managed it pretty well."

Five of their starting six defenders got on the scoresheet, with the goals coming from full-back Ruairí Crawford and centre-back Jack Gallagher, who coolly finished a daring break of which he was the bloodline. In all, Glenswilly's defenders scored 2-3 at Gerard Gallagher Memorial Park.

“It’s something we would work on,” Callaghan added of the Gallagher goal. “Getting numbers ahead of the ball and not sitting back and letting Michael Murphy inside not have to do it all himself. You have to get up and support. We got plenty of scores from the backline there and Ruairí got forward for the first goal as well. That’s a huge bonus. 

“We’re trying to be offensive and things take time. Maybe it was ingrained in a lot of teams about the county, to start with a defensive base. It takes time to breed that out of a team but we’re definitely getting used to it. In fairness most teams in the county aren’t playing as defensive and that’s good to see.”