Tobin says St Eunan's are putting a 'serious focus' on Ulster Club SFC

Kieran Tobin was part of the St Eunan’s teams that were caught late in the Ulster Club SFC before, so he was content to see his side clear the first hurdle at Brewster Park.

The side managed by Kieran Donnelly ran out winners on a 1-14 to 0-10 scoreline against Fermanagh’s Erne Gaels to seal a spot in the semi-finals of the province’s premier competition.

In 2021, St Eunan’s led Watty Grahams Glen from Maghera in the last minute, only to be overturned and lose by a point, 0-8 to 1-4.

Then, three years later, with Tobin as captain, they were also ahead with seconds to play against Errigal Ciaran, the Tyrone champions, before conceding three points in injury time to go down 0-12 to 0-10.

Against Erne Gaels, there were no such dramas, with Conor O’Donnell Jnr’s goal early in the second half enabling the Donegal champions to keep their opponents at arm’s length.

“Probably the first year against Glen, I thought it was just bonus territory,” Tobin, now 24, said in Enniskillen. “And once you were in the game, you only realised you could have had a chance at it. The same thing probably happened in the Errigal Ciaran game.

“But this year, we started to put a bit more focus on just getting over the line in the Ulster game. Because it's a big gap to bridge for the club. And it's fantastic to get it out. with a win”.

Donegal’s record in the Ulster Club SFC isn’t overly impressive, just two wins with St Joseph’s in 1975 and then Gaoth Dobhair in 2018.

Tobin believes that the nature of the Donegal SFC, which has had five different winners in the last 11 seasons, means that even getting to Ulster is an achievement in itself. The last team to win three-in-a-row in the county was St Eunan’s from 2007 to 2009 and before that the Ballyshannon-Bundoran amalgamation of St Joseph’s won four on the bounce between 1973 and 1976, as did Gaoth Dobhair from 1944 to 1947.

Erne Gaels last month completed a hat-trick in Fermanagh, Scotstown in Monaghan have four-in-a-row, Derry’s Magherafelt are back-to-back champions and Crossmaglen Rangers have 48 Armagh SFC crowns and 11 Ulsters.

“I suppose it's because other teams maybe have it a wee bit easier coming to their county,” Tobin added. “They can put a focus on Ulster. You don't have that luxury in Donegal because the standard of teams is very high.

“So once you get through, you have to put a serious focus. So it's great to get that kind of win. Declan Bonner was in there with Erne Gaels and they won two back-to-back and then Barry O’Hagan goes in and it’s three-in-a-row.

“So that tells you the kind of calibre of players they have, you know. It was a dangerous place to come. But it's great to come out the other side.”

Tobin was detailed to man-mark Ultan Kelm, the Belleek team’s talisman, which kept him busy under the floodlights, with St Eunan’s now taking on either Scotstown, the current Ulster champions, or Magherafelt in the semi-finals.

“Look, these types of people, they deserve that kind of attention,” Tobin said of Kelm. “You've seen the player he is. He's been man-of-the-match in the three finals that they won.

“That tells you the calibre of player that he is. It's not just me. There's a lot of boys who are covering you and doing some good jobs. I thought it was a good all-round team performance there today. And a good spread of scores as well. It’s nice to be in the next round. There are no easy games in Ulster. And we'll look forward to two weeks. It would be nice to keep it going.”