‘A semi-final is success for us but Glen are coming from a different place’

Gaeil Fhánada are back in a semi-final of the Intermediate championship on Sunday when they meet Naomh Columba in MacCumhaill Park, in their first semi-final in five years and the club are riding on the crest of a wave, according to manager Aidan McAteer.

"It is class to be involved in a big game for Fanad,” McAteer said. “2017 was the last time we were in a semi-final. We have rebuilt a team without going to junior football, which is a credit to us. It is great for us to get there. As some of the players said on Sunday before the Downings game, if we got beat, we still had a good season, winning the Gaeltacht and doing well in the league, but if we were beat by Downings in the championship, it would be a very sour end to the year.

"Now that we are in a semi-final and we will be underdogs, there is no point pretending otherwise, we kinda have a free crack at it. There is no pressure on us," says the Gaeil Fhánada boss.

They needed a late goal to overcome neighbours Downings on Sunday last in Dunfanaghy, with Alan McAteer scoring less than two minutes from time.

"There was some poor quality in it at times,” Aidan McAteer added. “There was so much at stake. Downings took a grip before half-time but the second half was nip and tuck. And once we got the goal, the game exploded completely. We were so immersed in it. There was not much enjoyment in it for us on the sideline."

The matchwinner Alan McAteer, who got the winning goal just after coming on, was lucky to be at the game at all as he had difficulty because of Aer Lingus’ IT problems on Saturday that saw 51 flights cancelled.
"We didn't think he would be there,” Aidan McAteer added. “He was flying into Dublin on Saturday but then that was cancelled and he then got a flight to Derry on Sunday morning.”

The manager was back in O'Donnell Park on Sunday evening in time to see Termon play Red Hughs and the draw for the semi-finals, which paired Gaeil Fhánada with Naomh Columba.

McAteer says they have met Naomh Columba a few times in recent years, beating them in the 2017 quarter-final.
"We played them in the group stages in the past two years and they have beaten us both times, but we beat them in the league this year in Fanad,” he said. "There would not be a whole pile between us in recent times. It was only this year that we got back up to Division 2. The Glen game we lost in championship in Fanad last year was the last game we lost in Fanad in championship or league.”

For Sunday's game McAteer is sweating on the fitness of full-back Sean Kerr and midfielder Bernard McGettigan, who were both forced off on Sunday last, Kerr with a dead leg and McGettigan with a recurring knee injury.

"Right now I can't see either of them making it," said McAteer. "The championship used to be hemmed into an eight week period. Now there is time and somebody said the Ulster games aren't until mid-October. Don't get me wrong, I would rather be playing. But it would have been lovely to get another week's break."

As for the opposition, McAteer feels Naomh Columba are at a higher level. "Glen are a good club, good tradition. Where Fanad are coming from, we are delighted to be in a semi-final. A semi-final is success for us but Glen are coming from a different place. They have been knocking on the door for three or four years.

"The lads got together themselves last night (Monday) on the beach in Portsalon. I went down to see them and they were playing beach soccer. They were relaxed and looking forward to the weekend," said McAteer, who has five players away from home - Oisin McFadden in Dundalk; Alan McAteer in Liverpool; Oisin and Odhran Shiels in Dublin and Ryan McGonigle in Limerick. "All rural teams are the same with players away. We are no different."