County final will be ‘massive’ for young St Eunan’s - Kavanagh

Having played during the years when St Eunan’s Donegal’s top dogs, Rory Kavanagh is well placed to outline the importance of an emerging team booking its place in the senior championship final.

Kavanagh is in his first campaign as the St Eunan’s manager and the 2012 All-Ireland winner has taken the Letterkenny side to a first final in six years.

Of the 16 players used on Saturday evening, only Conor Parke, Peter Devine, Caolan Ward and Sean McVeigh started the 2015 final, when Niall O’Donnell was introduced as a late sub. That October Sunday six years ago was the last time St Eunan’s graced the county final stage.

Kavanagh, who played in that final, saw his team beat St Michael’s 0-10 to 0-5 in Saturday evening’s semi-final.

“Semi-finals are for winning - and that’s what we did,” he said.

“We have a sprinkling of lads who have experienced a county final and that’ll be important.

“I’m delighted for those young lads. It’s a massive day in all of their lives and hopefully we can produce a big performance.

“We showed good maturity with how we managed the game late on. The boys kept their composure and kept playing within the game plan. They tagged on the big scores when we needed them. I felt that every man to a tee chipped in and put in a shift.”

St Eunan’s were denied by Naomh Conaill at the semi-final stage in the last two Championships, last year agonisingly pipped by a Ciaran Thompson point in added time in extra time.

Kavanagh said: “We lost the last couple of years by a point. The boys were keen to get back and hopefully got a step or two better.

“That’s what it’s all about now, giving these boys the experience of a county final day. It’ll be massive for a lot of them.

“You have to experience the big days as a player and everything that comes along with it. We know we’ll be massive underdogs, but it’s something that we’re really looking forward to. It’s been a long time coming.”

St Eunan’s and St Michael’s were level three times before the black and amber kicked the game’s final five points.

Kavanagh said: “I felt that they were all big scores because they were so hard to come by. When you get a two-point cushion in a game like that, where there was so little room and space, they’re always big moments.

“Conditions had a big impact on how the game was played. The conditions were trying for both teams.

“It was a very possession-based game, but I was pleased with the second-half performance. We showed good maturity for a young team to close out the game the way we did.”

When McVeigh came through the ranks, county final appearances were regular for St Eunan’s.

The forward is now one of the experienced voices in the dressing rom.

“The younger lads are really leading and stepping up now,” McVeigh said.

“Sitting in that stand last year, with no fans, after the loss to Naomh Conaill, was a hard one to shake. That has driven us on when we got into the tough moments this year. You could see that maturity and the hurt is still there.

“It’s a two-week build up so we’ll get a chance to recover and hopefully enjoy it. Most people are tipping the other side of the draw, so maybe the pressure is off us.”