Dunnion: Four Masters aiming for 'performance and no regrets' in Ulster final

Four Masters take to the road once more on New Year’s Day (Sunday) with the prize of an Ulster minor title on the line. They face Dungiven from Derry in the St Paul’s Ulster Minor Tournament final at Shaws Road, Belfast (1pm).

It has been an amazing December for all associated with the team as Sunday’s trip will be their fourth to Belfast and the team, representing Donegal as championship winners, have grown in that time.

On St Stephen’s Day they overcame a Donaghmore side who had seven players on the Tyrone minor panel that won Ulster last year. There has been plenty of talk on social media about the fact that the Donegal champions had just one player (Seanan Carr) on the Donegal minor panel and he was only used as a substitute in the championship.

Four Masters defeated the Tyrone champions convincingly by 1-8 to 0-5, controlling large parts of the game, which makes the ratio of players on the respective county panels so stark. There can be many reasons for such a glaring imbalance, but there is no argument that this Four Masters team have not just arrived out of the blue.

Damien Dunnion and his backroom team have overseen a group of players who have yet to be beaten in a championship final. They have won every major competition that they have entered coming up through the age groups and arrive at a new peak, an Ulster minor club final.

It is a first for the club and in the 40-year history of the tournament, only the fifth club from the county to reach the final - Killybegs, Aodh Ruadh, St Eunan’s and Termon being the others.

Killybegs have won the tournament twice (1984 and 1985) with Aodh Ruadh being the only other winners (1992). St Eunan’s lost out in two finals; Aodh Ruadh and Killybegs have also lost a final while Termon were edged out by a point on the last occasion the tournament was played in 2019 before Covid.

So Four Masters are in unprecedented waters and manager Dunnion is aware of its importance, even though right throughout the rise of the team, it was about the development of players and improving them to be senior players one day.

Apart from their impressive semi-final performance, they defeated Irvinestown in the preliminary round (5-5 to 2-10) and Clan na Gael of Armagh in the quarter-final (1-10 to 1-9).

Speaking ahead of the final he said: “I would know less about Dungiven, than about any other team. But we will get the videos this week and we’ll watch them and see their threats and try to nullify those.

“We’ll try to come up with a game plan. Our game plan doesn’t change very much, we have our style of play. I’m a big believer in getting the match-ups right and if we can do that and hopefully we have enough around the field to get us over the line. We do have loads of threats in the forward line and that’s what you’re hoping for.”

For the Four Masters management, it is about doing things the right way and playing as a team. He was full of praise for the mature manner in which they overcame Donaghmore in the semi-final.

“It’s a process. I suppose they have been listening to us preaching about that for so long. They know that themselves; we don’t have to preach that any longer. They know what’s expected of them.

“It will be the same next Sunday. And whether they get the result or not, that really doesn’t matter; well it probably does now that you’re in a final. But if you get that level of performance and no regrets, there is nothing more you can do.”

So on their fourth trip to Belfast, this Four Masters side, many of them playing their very last game at underage, have the opportunity to create another bit of history for themselves.

Scorers for Four Masters in their games to date:
Conor Meehan 2-12
Seanan Carr 2-2
Oisin Doherty 2-0
Kevin Muldoon 1-2
Conor McCahill 0-3
Callum McCrea 0-2
Caolan Sweeney 0-1
Daniel Quinn 0-1