Dunleavy credits Glenswilly's conveyor belt for U-21 progress

Twenty-four hardy souls at training in December in Letterkenny ahead of a County U-21B semi-final shows the levels Glenswilly are going to in a bid to end the year with some silverware.

It stood to them too, as on Saturday in the relatively fresh surroundings of Hibernian Park in Burt, they ran out winners on a landslide 4-16 to 0-3 scoreline against a Malin team who had reached the final of the competition last season.

At centre-field, Kealan Dunleavy and Darragh Enright provided the platform the Glenswilly side managed by Adrian Glackin, whose panel have been infused by members of the Michael Murphy managed Minor Division 1 Championship finalists.

“The squad depth is unbelievable with that many minors having come through,” Dunleavy said afterwards. “They have given us a big boost. There’s 15 of them coming through and although it’s not always nice football in winter and you hear of some clubs having bother getting men out, we’ve not got that problem thankfully.

Glenswilly on fire to dispose of Malin in U-21B semi-final

Glenswilly put in a top-class showing in chilly conditions in Burt to dismantle Malin and seal a place in the final of the U-21B Championship

“The bench is a big one for us. There’s always men there to come in and it’s hard for Aidy to pick a team. We knew with those minors there was a chance we could be strong and if we could put the work in then we’d see.”

Glenswilly had been put to the pin of their collar the weekend beforehand in the quarter-final against Naomh Padraig, winning out by a single point 1-14 to 2-10 and Malin had done likewise against Cloughaneely, winning 4-4 to 1-12.

To avoid the possibility of a Russian roulette scenario, Glenswilly laid down their marker early on Saturday and having got themselves into a dominant position, weren’t for letting go. 

Conor McGinty, Daith Gildea, Gerard Shields and Darragh McFadden struck the goals with Dunleavy hitting three points and contributing much else besides.

“The battles needed to be won in there,” Dunleavy said. “We didn’t think today would be what it was as Malin had a big win over Cloughaneely. Last week the games were tight and there wasn’t much in them. Goals win games and the early goals give us a boost and a platform to work on. We still had a second half to win. It’s nice to be in a final before Christmas.”