McAteer hails Glenswilly effort after U-21 A win over Termon

Glenswilly picked up a first win in the Under-21 A Championship after a strong win over rivals Termon in Páirc Naomh Columba.

The home side hit two goals in each half, which made a big difference as they took a 4-12 to 1-11 win over their neighbours, and captain on the day Dylan McAteer was pleased with the performance as well as the result.

“Goals had a big say. Matthew Enright put away two of the four goals, and all respect to Termon, they held us to four points at half-time, and then they got a goal and a two-pointer to bring it back to four again, but we just kept going to the next play.

“We were happy with the kick-outs and the percentages, and we got a lot of breaking ball to keep the scoreboard ticking over to get us to the win.

The home side kept going until the end, and with Termon pushing for goals late on, Pauric Devine put in a brilliant tackle to stop Ciaran Cassidy from getting one back, as the home side defended well in the late stages to keep their healthy lead.

“That’s drilled into us, whether you’re up or down by ten points, you go until the final whistle, and that’s how we play. Pauric was definitely Man of the Match in my eyes; he kicked 1-2 and what he does going forward and then he does that towards the end of the game which might not have affected the result, but he still did it which is a statement of what we’re about more than anything.”

Glenswilly lost out in their opening game away against back-to-back winners Four Masters, so a win on home soil was vital to their chances of progressing.

And with a trip to winless Gaoth Dobhair next, they gave their points difference a big boost, but finishing as high up in the table as possible will be a priority, with top going through directly to the semi-finals, while second meet third in the other group and vice versa.

“Four Masters are probably the strongest team in the 21s campaign, so we knew going up there it would be a difficult game. We had Termon there and now Gaoth Dobhair next week, it’s a very tough group, and we needed to win there because if we were going away to Magheragallon with two losses then we would have been backs to the wall, so we’ll look to push on next week.

“We’ll be going down to do a job, and we’ll pick out their danger men and try to go with the same attacking set up and look to get the two points, whether that puts us second or third, we’ll be looking for that win.”

Michael Murphy, Neil Gallagher, Gary McFadden and Lee Gildea are part of the management ticket, so there is plenty of experience in charge, as there is in the 21s team, with McAteer one of nine players that started on Saturday who also played in the Donegal SFC semi-final defeat to Naomh Conaill after extra-time.

Donal Gallagher and Daithi Gildea also played that day, but have both missed out on Saturday with hamstring injuries.

“Our senior panel is young, and there are a lot of Under-21s on it; it’s a young team throughout Glenswilly, but we showed out there that we do have that senior experience. “We’ve Donal and Daithi missing, and they’re two senior players and two of our best players, but as Michael told us, if there’s boys missing, then it’s just the next man up.

“The likes of Paul Mullen, Paddy Ward and Aiden Friel that maybe weren’t on the senior panel but they’re pushing through now and making a statement in the 21s.”