Conor O’Donnell savours third county title as St Eunan’s reclaim Dr Maguire

St Eunan’s captain Conor O’Donnell Snr savoured winning another county title on Sunday as he picked up what is his third county title.

The O’Donnell Park men were ahead for the majority of the game until Ethan O’Donnell’s goal levelled things, before Shea Malone hit a two-pointer.

St Eunan’s responded with a James Kelly goal, which was created by O’Donnell Snr, but they still found themselves two down heading to added time.

But Niall O’Donnell’s exceptional two-pointer, along with a Ciaran Moore score which was the last kick of the game, saw them get over the line against their bitter rivals.

“I thought we played well, especially in the first half, we had a few misses, but it wasn’t looking good at a stage in the second half.

“We knew they’re a quality team, but Ciaran Moore got a sweet point on the left foot that was probably a whisker inside the post and if it went wide, it could have been a different story, but we got a bit of momentum from that thankfully.

“They’re always knocking about the last number of years, we’ve let ourselves down, but since I’ve been playing senior football you never get it easy against them. We probably then have a bit of an extra rivalry with them because the auld fella is from there, I think he was crying at full time there,” he quipped.

To captain the side this year made it a bit more special for the 30-year-old as they won the title for the first time since 2024.

It’s my third title, the 2021 was sweet because it was a first, but it was also during COVID, but this one is up there, especially being captain of the team. The years can be running out so you never know when your last might be.

St Eunan’s will be in action in Ulster in three weeks time against the Fermanagh champions, with reigning champions Erne Gaels facing Derrygonnelly Harps in the final next week.

“We gave it a rattle in 2024 but Errigal Ciaran beat us. At the start of the year, what we wanted was to win the Dr Maguire and that was the objective number one, so we’ll see what happens after this.”