Mac's View: Great Donegal final in Ballybofey on Sunday

It looked like we were going to have a replay as the seconds ticked by and the teams deadlocked but when St Eunan’s got the late chance they were clinical and Ciaran Moore was in the right place to knock over the winner.

The quality of the game was something that comes to mind. The quality of kicking from both sides was impressive. Ciaran Thompson’s two pointers in the opening half; Shea Malone’s in the second half. The scores of John O’Malley and the super two pointer from Niall O’Donnell in the closing stages were as good as you would see anywhere.

I said last week that we had the two best teams in the final and that was borne out. It looked good for Glenties coming down the stretch when they edged into the lead. They had done their usual slow start but were just two points down at the break. And when they edged ahead you thought that it was going to be their day.

But St Eunan’s were ready for the surge and they responded and I suppose that’s what good teams do. When Naomh Conaill got their goal, St Eunan’s needed a response and while their goal was a little messy, they all count.

County finals are a day apart and big players usually stand up on the big days. For St Eunan’s Eoin Dowling was impressive at midfield while Ciaran Moore produced his best, not just scoring the winner, but being on the front foot for the whole game.

There was a great battle between Shane O’Donnell and Finnbarr Roarty with the Naomh Conaill man holding O’Donnell to just one point.

Oran Winston had a good game also and he comes from good stock, grandson of the great Dodo Winston. He will be one of a number of names that will be exercising Jim McGuinness as he looks to put a panel together for 2027.

St Eunan’s just about deserved the win and it has been a great year for the club, winning the county hurling title and also the Ladies winning the Donegal senior championship.

Indeed, their Reserves also won on Sunday defeating a young Four Masters team easily enough in the final, but when you can have the likes of Darragh Mulgrew playing for the Reserves it shows just how strong the St Eunan’s club is at the moment.

Letterkenny is a big town and is probably big enough to accommodate three clubs at a minimum. But in saying that, the players have to be looked after from a young age and it looks as if St Eunan’s are doing a good job as their U-14s, U-16s and minors have also done well this year.

Naomh Conaill, on the other hand, are a great example of what a rural club can achieve and they were hampered in the final by the loss of big Kieran Gallagher at midfield and also Eoghan McGettigan was a big loss in the forward division. But they have plenty of talent coming through as well and we can expect that they will be back just as strong next year.

Congratulations to the St Eunan’s team of 2001 who were honoured on Sunday as the Jubilee team of 25 years ago. Also it was a nice touch from the Co Board to have the Donegal GAA Masters team, All-Ireland winners, as special guests on the day.

Last Sunday was the last day of action for most of the footballers in the county, apart from the various winners, who will have their day out in Ulster in the coming weeks.

We do have the U-21 championship taking place over the next while but for most footballers it will be April before they kick a ball. I know I keep going on about this but I feel there has to be some sort of competition between now and April for those players.

This weekend we have the Intermediate and Senior finals in Fermanagh and I want to wish the best of luck to our neighbours - Erne Gaels, Derrygonnelly and Devenish. The Garrison club are in the Intermediate final against Kinawley on Saturday evening in Brewster Park and they are being looked after by Donegal man John McNulty, helped out by David Walsh and Diarmaid McInerney.

On Sunday, again back in Brewster Park, champions Erne Gaels put their title on the line against neighbours Derrygonnelly and that should be a good contest. The best of luck to all involved.

Brian McEniff was in conversation with Peter Campbell