McShea's Say: Naomh Conaill are champions and St Eunan’s are aggrieved

The only topic of discussion after Saturday’s Donegal County final was the sending off  of St Eunan’s Shane O Donnell on the cusp of half-time.

The question on everyone’s lips was: Did the referee get it wrong? The only answer to that is, is that he did after consulting with one of his linesmen Val Murray.

This was clearly the wrong decision, and the evidence shows that there was absolutely no justification for such a flawed decision. On a difficult day for football, it is impossible to say what impact the sending off had on the outcome of this final

But in a game where there was only a one-point winning margin in the end, with Naomh Conaill winning 1-9 to 2-5, one can assume that a player of Shane O Donnell’s ability would have been worth at least one point to his team.

This however is not the only reason for St Eunan’s defeat because when both sides had their full complement of players in that first half, Naomh Conaill were the more impressive and better team.

They were playing with greater desire, confidence, and their tactics while not very easy on the eye were very effective. In their semi-final win against Kilcar, St Eunans most creative player was their keeper Shaun Patton. His deliveries were top class and resulted in several scores for his team, but to their credit Naomh Conaill had their homework done in this regard and Patton was reduced to kicking the ball short.

After last year’s final when St Eunans beat Martin Regan’s team 1-11 to 0-4, many felt that Naomh Conaill were past their best - but this amazing team of Houdinis burst out of that predicament.

Magicians or supermen these guys blithely defy the passage of time and scorn the thought of defeat even when hemmed into the tightest of corners. And they were in a very tight corner in the three minutes of injury time, when St Eunan’s owned the ball but the blanket defending of the winners was most impressive, and their discipline in not conceding what would have resulted in a free to draw the game was top class defending.

On a day of heavy showers and strong wind Naomh Conaill manager Martin Regan deserves great credit for this win. His team showed no sign of nerves or any trace of an inferiority complex as they took the game by the scruff of the neck.

Their splendid cohesion seemed to surprise their opponents as Letterkenny were very poor, the number of turnovers that they conceded was vital and some of their players seemed to stand and wait for the ball rather than attacking it.

The lateral football was hard to understand and some of their team instantly when in possession turned back to their own goal and took the easy way out by engaging in non-stop back passing to fellow defenders or to their goalkeeper. It may be argued that because Naomh Conaill set up with 15 men behind the ball a positive attacking strategy was difficult to create but that is no reason for a total lack of plan B.

It was obvious before this final that Naomh Conaill’s game plan would center on total defense. Two players who could have shared the man of the match award were Ciaran Thompson and Brendan Mc Dyer.

Thompson hit four great points, won lots of possession around the middle of the park, but he was more than a little fortunate not to pick up a card during the  match.

McDyer, the Peter Pan of Glenties, had one of his best games in the blue jersey and his three points were all top-class scores. When he finally hangs up his boots he can look back on a wonderful innings with his club, and after his display on Saturday Martin Regan will be very anxious to have him around for some time yet.

Two aspects of this final I found to be disappointing, several players fell to the ground after harmless tackles in an attempt  to have an opponent sent off. This is a level of poor sportsmanship which has no part in our games and such players should get a black card for such unfair sportsmanship.

The style of play in Donegal club football is now a mirror image of the lateral football that cost our county team in recent years. While it makes for a very poor spectacle it will not in the long term produce significant results. Naomh Conaill will have no problem regarding how attractive or otherwise this final was. As the most consistent team in Donegal over the last number of years they are to be congratulated on their wonderful consistency.