Club players commitment in Donegal unrivalled - Kieran Donnelly

The St Eunan’s boss acknowledges that many from the county have to head much further afield for employment and third-level education.

However, it's the fact that they don’t transfer away and continue to make weekly treks that has really impressed him.

Niall O’Donnell will once again return to Letterkenny from Chicago this week while Donnelly explains that he has up to ten players currently based in Dublin that commute home.

“I’ve really enjoyed it,” he said on his first term to date at O’Donnell Park. “Donegal people are fanatical about their football. It’s a massive county. The commitment players give to play for their own club is unbelievable.

“They travel from Dublin for training. We have eight to ten lads in Dublin. So they have a real pride in their club and county.

“The quality of the football is really high, really fast. You can see why they have been so competitive.

“Going to places like Kilcar even, just the scenery and the location of alot of the pitches, it’s a beautiful part of the world”.

Donnelly will no doubt have had very little recon work to carry out on Saturday evening’s opposition Erne Gaels.

The former Fermanagh boss has worked closely with the Belleek side’s county contingent. Buit knowing their quality and setting up to limit it are two different things.

“Coming into any Ulster competition, it takes a little while to get your head around the opposition. But that is a benefit.

“I had quite a few of them in the Fermanagh squad for a couple of seasons. They are in a really good place - that’s their third senior title in a row.

“The Ulster club is all about familiarity and being there before. I thought they were excellent in the Fermanagh final.

“Derrygonnelly never really performed but Belleek didn’t allow them to. I felt they were really well organised; defensively, they were very structured.

“They have real pace and quality all over the field. It will be a tough task. The fact I know them is a bonus.

“We came through a tough championship ourselves, a very competitive Donegal race. Naomh Conaill were a side on a real up this past six or seven years.

“But we’ll take confidence from beating them. It’s where we want to be”.

And Donnelly insists Gaels won’t have had to dig too deep either to obtain valuable information on the Donegal champions.

“A bit like anything, is there any real hiding place now, regardless? There is that much video footage now of most teams that you know each other inside out.

“St Eunan’s, as a club, have Ulster Club experience. It’ll be a good game. As I said, both sides are very athletic. Belleck’s transition through the middle was excellent in their final.

“Both teams will know each other really well. Geographically, they aren’t a million miles apart either.

“Brewster Park being a home game for them will be a plus for Belleck. We’re really looking forward to it, Saturday night under lights in Enniskillen.”

Having had three weeks' respite to celebrate, recover and, indeed, move on from their decider victory over Naomh Conaill, Donnelly hopes that his side’s tough gauntlet through Donegal will be a decisive factor.

“I would feel the tougher games you come through (the more it will stand to you). Donegal was a tough championship.

“We had a tough run to get to the final. We’d Dungloe in the quarters and they were in the final two years before that.

“We’d Gaoth Dobhair in the last four; big pedigree and a side that was in the final last year. Going into the final against Glenties, we felt we had the tougher run. And maybe that stood to us in the closing stages there.

“In Ulster, every side is well organised. The big players and the big moment players, especially under the new rules and the lack of control; it’s all about maximising your big moments.

“Erne Gaels have that and I think we do too. All the games have gone down the stretch, even the county finals.

“Magherafelt and Newbridge was excellent. Even the Salthill game in Galway; it took a goal with the last kick of the game to decide it.

“So it’s al about maximising your chances when they arrive. And that again comes down to good decision-making in the final third”.