McGeehan: ‘Gaoth Dobhair and Glenswilly will have a big say in SFC’

Two of the big winners in round three of the Donegal SFC last weekend were Gaoth Dobhair and Glenswilly.

Trevor Alcorn’s side overcame MacCumhaill’s at Magheragallon on a 1-15 to 0-7 scoreline to make it three wins from three and assure themselves of a quarter-final spot, while Glenswilly turned it on in the second half to post a 2-14 to 2-9 victory against Glenfin.

Pauric Bonner’s side aren’t mathematically confirmed as one of the teams in the last eight just yet, but it would take a strange concoction of results to overthrow them and in any case, a win at Ardara will rubber-stamp things.

Former Sean MacCumhaills player and manager Bernard McGeehan feels their placings on the table will alter after this weekend’s games - Gaoth Dobhair are currently third with Glenswilly in fifth - but wherever they end up will have significant implications when the running order for the quarter-finals are confirmed.

“I’ve watched Gaoth Dobhair twice in the championship against my own club MacCumhaills on Sunday and against Glenfin, the week before,” says McGeehan.

“And I have to say I was mightily impressed with them. I was expecting MacCumhaills to give them a good game and perhaps even get a result in Magheragallon. But in reality, they blew them away in the second half.

“Our lads had been going well, they had drawn with St Michael’s down at the Bridge, which was a very good result, and they had won well against Four Masters, at home.

“In fairness to the lads they started well and led by a couple of points at one stage early on. But they slowly reeled us in and went two up and they were five up at half-time after Gavin McBride scored an injury time goal.

“And they steamrolled us in the second half. I was very impressed with Micheál Roarty and Donal Mac Giolla Bhríde, in the middle of the field.

“Roarty was very direct with the quick ball inside which was very effective and Mac Giolla Bhríde looks a real class player and I have no doubt he has the ability to play at a higher level. Ethan Harkin played out of his skin and kicked eight points and Daire
Ó Baoill came on after coming back from his travels and showed his class, though he may be a bit behind on fitness.
“But he still made a big contribution and is a class player and his fitness will improve in the coming weeks. If they have a weakness it is maybe an over-reliability on Harkin for scores.

“They did not play as well the week before against Glenfin but they still ground out the result to win by a point.”
McGeehan has been watching in on Glenswilly of late and has been impressed by their improvement from league to championship.

“Most people wrote them off after they lost the relegation play-off to Killybegs and were relegated,” he says. “But they got a great result, a draw with Naomh Conaill the first day.

They followed that up with a good win away to St Naul’s and were too good for Glenfin, last Sunday, at home. They seem to be one of the form teams in the championship and Michael Murphy is spending most of his time at full-forward, Jack Gallagher, Caoimhinn Marley, Kealan Dunleavy and the Crawfords are all playing well.

“I know mathematically they need at least one more point to qualify for the quarter-final. But I think they will sort that out on Sunday with an away win against Ardara who are pointless from their three games played.”
Although McGeehan doesn’t expect Gaoth Dobhair to beat Naomh Conaill in Glenties, he feels they and Glenswilly will have a big say in the championship before it is over.

“If, as I believe they will, Gaoth Dobhair lose on Sunday and given all the other games go the way I expect them too Gaoth Dobhair would face Aodh Ruadh quarter-final,” McGeehan adds. “That would certainly be an interesting pairing and opens up all sorts of prospects for the two teams.

“A Naomh Conaill win would also set up another mouthwatering meeting with Glenswilly, in the last eight. I know Four Masters and MacCumhaill’s are chasing down St Michael’s and Killybegs, for the last two quarter-final places.

“But I expect St Michael’s to win against St Naul’s and Four Masters and MacCumhaills to lose their respective games against Glenfin and St Eunan’s, so St Michaels and Killybegs will go through. This is despite the fact I expect Killybegs to lose away to Cloughaneely.

“Cloughaneely are probably safe from relegation with just one point. But they will want to finish with a win to make completely sure and besides, Falcarragh is alway a tough place to go and get a result.

“If what I predict comes to pass, that would adjust the finishing places from their current position. St Michael’s are currently in eighth place in the table and Killybegs are in seventh position.

“In that scenario St Michael’s would move up to seventh and Killybegs would drop a place to eighth. That would have obvious implications for the quarter-final pairings with Killybegs facing Kilcar and St Michael’s taking on the champions St Eunans. The quarter-final pairings I expect after this weekend’s final round of games is as; Kilcar v Killybegs, St Eunans v St Michaels, Gaoth Dobhair v Aodh Ruadh and Naomh Conaill v Glenswilly.”

At the bottom end of the table McGeehan feels Glenfin and Cloughaneely will be safe and the bottom four will be made up of Bundoran, Ardara, St Naul’s and Milford.