Donegal men lead London to first All-Ireland Masters title

London were captained by a Donegal man as they wrote their own small piece of GAA history at the weekend with their All-Ireland Masters title success.

The Exiles with former St Nauls player Gary Kane captain defeated a Leitrim/Longford combination in the All-Ireland Masters Challenge Trophy final - the fourth tier championship - in Connolly Park, Collooney, Co Sligo.

The former St Nauls man turned in a man of the match performance in the middle of the field in the 0-13 to 0-8 victory over Leitrim/Longford. The winners laid the foundation in the first half and led 0-11 to 0-7 at half-time.

Kane was one of two Donegal men in the London side on Saturday afternoon. David Cannon from Kilcar and a former county minor and U21 played a key role in the success at left half-back.

“It is a bit of a first for me,” said Kane on his man of the match award. “To be honest there are a lot of guys out on the pitch that do a lot of unseen work but it so happens I got the award on this occasion. It has been a massive team effort, a massive squad effort all year long. We had six games back in Ireland this year and three games in London so it really is a great reward after a very long and tough season.

“We started training this team three years ago just before the start of the pandemic. Unfortunately we could not enter the competition because of covid obviously. We had a trip to Kerry in 2020 and we kept it going since then. It is the London Masters first trophy. We are five years back in the competition and this is the team's first All-Ireland Masters trophy.”

Cannon was also delighted with the win and being part of a little piece of London GAA history. He added: “It is always good to win something especially at our vintage,” said Cannon, who was a regular with Kilcar seniors before he emigrated to London. He was a talented underage player and played with Donegal at minor and U21 and was marked down at the time as future Donegal senior during his underage days.

“It is brilliant to come over here and win with such a brilliant group of lads under the guidance of Gary the captain and a lot of other boys egging us on. At our age we are privileged to be on the football field and still playing with a lot of very good footballers.

“It is a big commitment between training and games and especially this season with so many trips back home to Ireland to play. I have a three-year-old now and I’m lucky enough to have her and my partner over in London and it means time away from them too is part of the commitment.

“Some of us did not make all of the trips in fairness and there are a lot of good players who can fill in the gaps for us and that is the advantage of having a big panel and big commitment all round. This victory is five years in the making and in that time you do build up a big bunch of lads who are all dedicated. They are all good quality footballers and as good as one another.”
Kane transferred from St Nauls to Tir Chonaill Gaels when he moved to live and work in London when he finished college. He won six London championships and he is now playing with St Claret’s in Hayes in West London.

“I see I’m down in the programme as a Tir Chonaill Gaels player but I’m playing intermediate football with St Claret’s and that keeps me ticking along,” he added. “I was out of football for a while and at the time I returned to play Tir Chonaill Gaels had no reserve team so I joined St Clarets. They were a junior team at the time but we won the junior championship last year and are up playing intermediate this year.”

Former Dungloe player John Paul O’Donnell from Maghery was also a member of the London squad and played in an earlier round but did not feature in the final. Noel Burke, a son of Paddy Burke from Frosses and stalwart of football in London, is also a member of the squad. And the Donegal connection with the team was completed by former Naomh Columba player Seamus Carr, who was a team selector.