St Eunan’s Devine: ‘We’re not going to get too far ahead of ourselves’

St Eunan’s might’ve taken the Dr Maguire up and down Letterkenny’s streets last November but they didn’t have it all their own way getting it there.

Putting in by far their best showing of the campaign in the final to defeat Naomh Conaill 1-11 to 0-4, it marked a victorious conclusion to Rory Kavanagh’s first season as manager. However, losing to Kilcar in the opening round last year and then having a few feathers shaved in a narrow derby win at Termon isn’t something that has gone unforgotten among the St Eunan’s players.

This season, they’ve a flawless three from three with their 1-20 to 2-7 victory over Cloughaneely at O’Donnell Park following on from wins over St Naul’s and Bundoran.

“We’re happy with how it’s going,” corner-back Peter Devine said. “We didn’t want to be losing points early on like we did last year and have to go chasing. It can put you under pressure so we just wanted to look after ourselves.”

St Eunan’s had 10 different scorers against the IFC winners from last year, Cloughaneely, on Saturday last and an impressive stat was they didn’t kick a single wide over the course of the hour. However, the concession of goals by Blake McGarvey and then Paul Sweeney late in both halves was something Devine said they would have a look at.

“It was a good performance and the shooting was phenomenal with the likes of Conor O’Donnell, Shane O’Donnell and Eoin McGeehin,” Devine added. “If you can get them boys the ball then they will do damage. It just clicked against Cloughaneely. But at the same time we conceded two goals that we wouldn’t have been overly happy with, so we will have a look into that. There’s always plenty to work on. We’re not going to get too far ahead of ourselves.”

The strength of the St Eunan’s panel is the envy of every side in the county and even last week, Niall O’Donnell was rested, his brother Conor only a late substitute as Ronan McGeehin could only watch on with a pair of crutches and Darragh Mulgrew an absentee having broken a finger in Bundoran.

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“It’s been well-documented we have a strong squad and everyone is working hard,” Devine added. “Whoever comes through the week well in training has a chance and Rory isn’t afraid to throw lads in. Everyone is fighting for their positions and we’re lucky enough to have maybe two players for every position so that can only bode well. We were missing Ronan and Darragh there and the lads who came in did well.”

St Eunan’s now face a MacCumhaill’s side on three points from three outings needing something to force their way into the top eight come Sunday evening. For St Eunan’s, their positioning at the top end will be a factor when the first round grinds to a conclusion.

“We just want points on the board and then it’s time to move into the knock-out stages and we’ve a quarter-final to look at after MacCumhaill’s, who are our focus for now,” Devine said. “They’ve had a good season and are still in with a chance of qualifying so it’s heating up. 

“With the fact there’s only four teams and not eight involved in the relegation play-offs, it means there are no dread rubbers and every match this weekend has something on it and that’s what championship is about.”