MAC'S VIEW: Naomh Conaill and St Eunan's in cat and mouse affair in league final

The leagues were completed at the weekend and Naomh Conaill had a point to spare over St Eunan’s when they met in the decider in MacCumhaill Park on Sunday. I was listening to the game on the radio and by all accounts it was a cat and mouse affair.

These sides are due to meet again in the second round of fixtures in the championship and that could also be something of a cat and mouse affair. They are clearly the two best club teams in the county at the moment and they are likely to meet for the fourth time this year as the championship hots up.

I’m hearing that there is an open draw for the quarter-finals of the Donegal championship this year and that is strange as the top four qualifiers could actually clash in the last eight games, which could make for some lop-sided games in the run-in. The only benefit now for doing well in the league stages of the championship is to have one week off and avoid the preliminary quarter-final games which will see the teams that finish fifth to 12th playing off. It would seem to make sense that the top four teams would have been seeded and in one bowl with the four teams that qualify from the preliminary quarter-finals in the second bowl.

With no real benefit to finish in the top four, there could be a lot of games that might not be as competitive as they should be in the group stages.

Anyway, it will come down to a small number of teams being able to be in the race. Apart from the big two, Kilcar and Gaoth Dobhair should again be in the mix; and I would like to see our neighbours, Aodh Ruadh, make the step up. They should be targeting a semi-final spot at least.

The other big game at the weekend was the Division 2 league final and Glenswilly got the better of Naomh Columba after a sluggish first half. With Michael Murphy in their ranks, they will be the one team that could make the breakthrough and few teams will want to meet them in the knock-out stages.

The Division 4 final was also played on Sunday with the Aodh Ruadh Third team overcoming Pettigo in the decider in Ballintra. It has been a good campaign for Pettigo, with Sunday’s game being their only defeat, and credit must go to Pat Gallagher and the players. Aodh Ruadh had the advantage of being able to play some reserve players which helped their cause. And they had Michael ‘Sticky’ Ward up front, still going strong for the Ballyshannon men.

CONGRATS TO MINORS

It was a good weekend for the Donegal Minor Ladies as they went to Kinnegad and won the All-Ireland title, defeating Waterford in the decider. I heard them going through Bundoran later that evening and it was good to hear some success coming Donegal’s way.

My congratulations to all involved, the players and those behind the scenes, including our 1992 All-Ireland winning full-forward, Tony Boyle.

There is a bright future ahead for the Donegal Ladies and with a changing of the guard taking place, many of these young players can now make the step up to senior level.

On the home front, it has been pretty quiet in relation to the appointment of a new Donegal senior manager. However, there is probably plenty going on behind the scenes. We have to be patient and hope that everything works out well. Hopefully, the new manager will be in place for the start of the club championships, which is just over a week away now.

LATE ART MCRORY

I was saddened to hear the news of the death of my good friend, Art McRory, the former Tyrone manager. Art would have been related to me on my mother’s side and we had a great relationship. We worked together as managers of the Ulster side in the Railway Cup over many years.

He was a very good football man and had great success as manager of Tyrone, winning five Ulster titles. He also played for Tyrone and started his managerial career with the Ulster winning minor team in 1973.

He lost his wife, Helen, earlier this year and I was talking to him recently in Bundoran when we went for a walk and he was talking of nothing but of her.

May his soul rest in peace.

Brian McEniff was in conversation with Peter Campbell