Rory Kavanagh says St Eunan’s must be ready for the ‘Championship moments’

Rory Kavanagh could tick a box on Saturday night after St Eunan’s defeated St Naul’s by seven points in their Donegal SFC opener.

For long spells, there was a kick of a ball or not much more in it, but the Letterkenny side always held the controls.

A Stephen Griffin penalty in added time - bringing St Naul’s to within three - might have jangled the nerves. By the time those in attendance even had time to tot the sums, the ball, via a booming Shaun Patton kick-out, Eoin McGeehin netted at the other end.

“Those are the moments you have to be ready for in Championship football,” Kavanagh said. “The goal gave us breathing space again.

“They pressed up and they really went for us. Shaun had a very good kick-out over the top and we managed to win it and get a goal ourselves.”

Limited fuss as St Eunan's defeat St Naul's to get SFC bid underway

Conor O'Donnell junior scored six points as St Eunan's, the beaten finalists last year, defeated St Naul's at O'Donnell Park on an evening when the teams swapped two goals in added time,

St Eunan’s were three to the good, 0-7 to 0-4, at half-time. St Naul’s stayed in touch, but St Eunan’s always seemed like a side that had a few gears if they needed.

Kavanagh said: “I thought we were in a good place at half-time. We lost our way a wee bit at the start of the second half, but men coming in made a difference.

“We conceded a penalty late in the game that we wouldn’t be happy with. We had bodies back and I don’t think we needed to go in for an overly-aggressive tackle and give away a soft penalty, but I’m happy with how we closed the game out.”

The winter past was a long one in the Cathedral Town as they stewed on a county final defeat that has left a lingering sense of wrong among the black and amber.

Kavanagh has stayed in the dugout and added Barry Meehan - who managed St Naul’s and won an Intermediate Championship in 2019 - to his backroom team.

Kavanagh was pleased with the contribution of young guns Dylan Doogan and Noel O’Donnell, who stepped into the senior furnace on Saturday.

He said: “The physicality and the pace of it are two things they need to adapt to. They did quite well, they got on plenty of ball and they deserve their chance because they’ve worked hard.

“We want to develop players each and every year. They’re two who have stepped up and hopefully they’ll keep driving the thing on.”

St Eunan’s had Niall O’Donnell making a cameo off the bench while Shane O’Donnell and Conor O’Donnell senior, who have also just returned from the United States, will also be integrated in the coming weeks.

Conor O’Donnell junior posted six points, all from frees, on Saturday and Kavanagh believes he can take on a central role this autumn.

He said: “Conor was very good. We’ve been looking for him to take on more leadership and responsibility. He is finding consistency in his game now. When the chance arose for him to nail frees, he did that.”