Diver sticking by his guns and backing St Eunan’s to overcome Kilcar

Damian Diver will stick with St Eunan’s as his pick to win the Donegal SFC as they head into a rearranged semi-final against Kilcar.

The former Ardara and Donegal defender has expressed his condolences to the family and friends of father and daughter Patrick Devenney and Margaret Sullivan, who sadly passed away last week.

They are the father and sister of former St Eunan’s players Brendan and Maria Devenney - with Margaret the wife of Eugene Sullivan - and in light of their passings last Wednesday and Thursday, Saturday’s Donegal SFC semi-final between the Letterkenny side and Kilcar was postponed.

The fixture has been rescheduled now for this coming Saturday at MacCumhaill Park, with a 7:30pm start.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Devenney family,” Diver said.

"Kilcar are in the perfect place with no big expectations and nobody really giving them much of a chance, according to Diver.
“It will not be easy for Kilcar as they will have a lot of fires to put out with this very strong St Eunan's side,” he said. “They have a huge pick and a brilliant first 21 players with some real quality performers who are not starting. And that could be the key as in the modern game it is usually the strongest bench that makes the difference. They have some fine young lads like Kieran Tobin and Eoin Dowling.

“Kilcar do not have nearly as strong a bench, but they are a confident bunch and will not fear Eunan's and they already beat them in the league this season. Eunan's need to contain Ciaran McGinley, the McHugh's and Paddy McBrearty and it is a bit of a worry that they are so dependent on Paddy. I just think that Eunan's will have too much for Kilcar and can go all the way”.

Meanwhile Diver said he was not surprised to see Naomh Conaill get the better of Gaoth Dobhair in the other semi-final. The final score of 0-13 to 1-9, he said, was flattering on Gaoth Dobhair, who were well outgunned by a power-packed display from Naomh Conaill who are now contesting their sixth county final on the trot.

“It was no surprise that Glenties came through,” Diver added. “They are a vastly experienced team, and this is their sixth county final appearance on the trot which is some feat in itself. They have been performing very consistently this year and I did not expect Gaoth Dobhair to get close to them at all, especially when Neil McGee, who has been a great stalwart, ends up as the top scorer in the last game against Aodh Ruadh. That does not bode well for them.

“It is phenomenal the strength that they have and they still have players coming in to do a job that you might not have heard too much about and making a real impact. And the fact that Eunan's are hot favourites and also the fact that Naomh Conaill were pretty well beaten in last year's county final is a powerful double motivation for them.

Last season, it was Naomh Conaill who carried the tag of favourties for the Donegal SFC final but they were comprehensively defeated by Rory Kavanagh’s team on a scoreline of 1-11 to 0-4.

“Eunan's did not let Naomh Conaill to get near the ball, did not bring the ball into contact and Naomh Conaill were relying on big turnovers and Eunan's did not allow that to happen,” Diver added. “They went down the wings, cut across and they had players running for the sake of running and the older Glenties lads had to chase them whether they were getting the ball or not. They ran the legs off them”.

Diver saw Naomh Conaill against Glenswilly where a second half surge saw them home on a scoreline of 2-10 to 0-10 in the quarter-final two weeks ago.

“If Glenswilly had not been so rash with so many wides they could have made a better challenge,” he said. “So Glenties have Glenswilly and Gaoth Dobhair out of the system which is great preparation for a county final. Eunan's have not been tested yet, but they are still very much fancied to go all the way”.