Nothing expected of Aodh Ruadh against Gaoth Dobhair - manager John McNulty

John McNulty, the Aodh Ruadh manager in his first year at the helm, has taken his charges through to the quarter-final of the Donegal SFC with four wins and by far their biggest test on Saturday when they take on Gaoth Dobhair in Fintra.

For McNulty, the so-called big four - St Eunan's, Kilcar, Naomh Conaill and Gaoth Dobhair - are expected to go through once again and he feels that leaves them with nothing to lose.

"Really for Aodh Ruadh, the pressure is off,” he said. “There is nothing major expected of them and Gaoth Dobhair will go into that game as hot favourites. You are going into the game in a nice place, but if you want to do something with that, you have to perform."

Aodh Ruadh made the quarter-finals last year but went out tamely to St Michael's. And McNulty feels that the players were not happy with the way they went down.

"I can sense that this year,” he said. “They were disappointed with their performance that night. They expected to put up a better show.”

The Kilcar man is happy enough with preparations, especially having the week off. Their only concern is a hamstring strain picked up by Darren Drummond, but he feels he should be okay: "He is a big player, a strong physical man and he has been playing well this year."

The Aodh Ruadh team hasn't changed that much from game to game. McNulty added: "Maybe that's because we have lost only two games all year. A certain amount of that comes with it. The first game we lost was in Glenswilly at the start of the year when we were short eight of our starting 15. It was costly and if we had won that game, we would probably have been in the league final."

McNulty feels the side have gained great experience playing against the cream of the county in Division 1 of the league. "Even when we played Glenties in Munday's Field, they had most of their players that day like Charles McGuinness and the Dohertys. We had a tough battle with St Eunan's and they are strong no matter what 15 they field. It was a great experience for our boys and for me too, taking a new team."

Asked how he would rate the Aodh Ruadh team to other teams he had managed in recent times like Kilcar.
"I would definitely rate them very well in terms of their commitment,” McNulty said. “They trained very well all year and are very good fellows. Whatever is asked of them, they pretty much do it, very good to work with. They are confident in a nice way.”

He agrees that they have a big number of players who have been really consistent throughout the season. "Young lads like Kyle Murray and Mark McGlynn, even Matt Gillespie, have really come on a lot this year. We see them at training and they are starting to grow into senior players, in terms of leading on the pitch.”

McNulty says that injuries to Jason Granaghan and Johnny Gallagher during the year were a setback. "Jay is a good footballer and Johnny has great experience. They are both back in the squad now and putting their hand up. Philip Patton has been back since May and is hungry for it."

And what of the opposition, Gaoth Dobhair: "They are a quality side with quality players. They have proved that over the last number of years back to 2018 when they won Ulster. I know they have a lot of players missing from then but they have a lot of good young players coming into that squad as well.

"They are also coming off the back of that minor success and then you have the likes of the two McGees and Niall Friel, Dáire Ó Baoill and MacNiallais. Obviously they have big Gavin McBride inside this year and Cian Mulligan, a lot of quality there."
As for getting match-ups and tactics right, McNulty has different ideas: "Sometimes you try to over-think those things. Really and truly it comes down to getting your team to perform at a high level. I think they know that themselves. You need a performance and we have to try and get that from them.”