Mac's View: Great result for Erne Gaels winning three in-a-row

Firstly this week, my congratulations to our neighbours, Erne Gaels, Belleek, on winning a third Fermanagh championship in-a-row. They accounted for Derrygonnelly Harps even easier than expected on Sunday in Brewster Park.

They had 1-9 on the board before Derrygonnelly got going and the result was never really in doubt after that. They will now face our own Donegal champions, St Eunan’s in the Ulster Club Championship with that game set for Saturday week, November 7th at 5 pm in Brewster Park, Enniskillen.

It was great to see Belleek being successful and I hear they are very happy with their new manager, Barry O’Hagan from Armagh. I think they call him ‘Bumpy’ O’Hagan; he came to live in Donegal towards the end of my management and there was talk of him joining the Donegal squad but I didn’t bring him in.

I gather he’s quite good as a coach but even so I would think that St Eunan’s would be too strong for them. The Kelms are big players for Erne Gaels with Ultan scoring 1-7 in the final on Sunday. It is their third year in the Ulster club championship and that will count for something. They are also at home in Brewster Park and they won’t go down without a fight. It will be an interesting game and one which we will look forward more to next week.

Commiserations to the other local club Devenish, who lost out in the Intermediate final on Sunday evening against Kinawley. It is sad to see Devenish in the Intermediate championship, given their great record over the years and they were much more dominant than Erne Gaels back in the day. It would have been good for them to get over the line with a Donegal management of John McNulty, David Walsh and Diarmaid McInerney.

Here in Donegal the U-21 championship is now in full swing and despite the very poor weather at the weekend, almost all the games went ahead, which just shows how good the facilities are here in the county now.

My own club Bundoran defeated Killybegs but I was disappointed to hear that this game was in Division 3. Clubs of this stature should be playing in Division 2 at the very least and it bodes badly for Killybegs in particular.

Bundoran have a good prospect in Ryan McGloin, a grandson of Seamie Granaghan and Frank McGloin, and with that pedigree I would be hoping that he will be one to watch. However, I gather he will be missing for the next few weeks which will be a loss.

At the top level it looks as if Four Masters will again be the team to beat. They accounted for Glenswilly in the first round despite being short four of their first team.

The championships are in full swing in all divisions and it is good that we have some club competition at least. I hope the weather improves as it has been a very poor week weatherwise with hailstones hopping off the windows here in the Holyrood today.

Good luck to all the Donegal teams taking part in the Ulster club competitions this week in hurling and football. St Eunan’s and Sean MacCumhaill’s are in action in hurling against Monaghan sides, Castleblayney and Truagh. Truagh is a relatively new club in Monaghan and I remember when it was formed.

Our junior football champions, Urris, face Fintona in Omagh on Sunday and Fintona will be useful. It will be a tough assignment for this young Urris team, but we have been doing well at junior level in Ulster in recent times.

JIM’S BACKROOM

We are still awaiting the final make-up of Jim McGuinness’s backroom team for 2027 and there has been speculation that Naomh Conaill manager, Martin Regan, could be included. If that were so, it would be a very good addition as Regan has built up a wealth of experience with the Glenties men and his record is impeccable. He has been involved with the Naomh Conaill success as player or manager since 2005 with the club to the fore almost every year. His record is second to none and I doubt if there is a manager in the country who could match what he has done at club level over the past 21 years.

Finally, this week, congratulations to Martin McHugh, who was inducted into the GAA Hall of Fame last week. The announcement came too late to include last week. It is a well deserved honour as Martin has given great service to the GAA, both at club, county and at national level. It is good to see that sort of service being rewarded at the top level.

Brian McEniff was in conversation with Peter Campbell