Browne and Letterkenny Gaels aim to make up for previous final heartbreaks

It is a case of unfinished business for Letterkenny Gaels captain Conor Browne and the team of 2022 when they face Carndonagh on Saturday afternoon.

Saturday’s junior A championship final meeting is a third final in four seasons for the ‘Gaels and their captain. Buncrana dashed the dream of lifting that first junior crown with a 2-12 to 2-8 victory in the 2019 final. The Inishowen men came four points down at half-time in that final to outscore the ‘Gaels 1-9 to 0-4 in the second half.

And if that was not painful enough for the ‘Gaels supporters, Downings sunk the dagger in last year’s final to emerge 1-10 to 0-4 victors on final day last season.

“We simply did not turn up at all for last year's final and we have a point to prove now against Carndonagh on Saturday,” Browne said. “To only kick four points in a county final is not good enough and is never going to win you a game,” he added.
That nine-point defeat hurt and the captain admitted it took some time for everyone to get over what was seen as a huge setback.

“It was very difficult to get everybody back on the horse and get going again,” he added. “But we got a few good results at the start of the league. We then fell away for a while in the middle of the league but we got everybody to buy back in again and we had a good finish to the league and we got going and got going again.”

Letterkenny Gaels played in Division Two of the All-County Football League for the first time last season and the captain admitted it was a steep learning curve.

“We played some very good teams in the league,” Browne added. “We played Naomh Columba in the first game [losing 1-14 to 0-11] and they were in the intermediate final.They showed us in that very first game that it was not going to be an easy league and we knew after that game we were going to have to up our game, if we were going to survive. We needed to get a win in Dungloe to avoid the relegation play-off. And thankfully we came away with a win which was a big result.”

Browne believes the win in Dungloe - who last week won the Donegal IFC - was probably the defining game in the season.
“If we hadn’t won in Dungloe we would have been facing a relegation playoff heading into the championship and we would have it hanging over us,” he said. “We wanted to stay in Division Two. That was one of the goals at the start of the year so to have that box ticked off before the championship was good.”
Gaels are under new management this season with Dougie Cornett and Paul Melaugh sharing the role.
“Dougie and Paul came in at the start of the year and since we’ve numbers back they have been a breath of fresh air,” Browne said. “They have lifted the whole team and everybody has a fresh slate. There are boys playing now that did not get a chance for one reason or another and are playing well in the senior team.
“We may be experienced but we are still a very young team. I have been playing senior football for 10 years and I’m only 27, though the years are creeping by. You get your chance when you are young but the years keep slipping by because we need to get over that junior hurdle and get on to the next level.
“As a club it has been our objective to win the junior championship and we haven’t got over that line yet and it is always going to be there until we do and it is up to this time to finally cross that line.”