Watch: Gallen - 'When I pulled the trigger I was delighted to see it fly in'

Oisin Gallen’s goal for MacCumhaill’s on Sunday in the Donegal SFC was a bit like a jazz solo - he knew how it started but had to wait and see how things panned out before he would think about a conclusion.

With his side 0-5 to 0-3 in front after an open 20 minutes of football against Four Masters in the last of the second round fixtures, Gallen picked up possession and weaved his way into a shooting position to eventually slot past Ryan Haughey.
MacCumhaill’s went onto win 1-14 to 0-10 and they now stand on three points from four following a more than useful opening day draw in Dunfanaghy against St Michael’s.

“I was just trying to make up ground, initially, towards goal,” Gallen said afterwards. “As I progressed on, it opened up and after throwing a dummy it was on. The eyes lit up then and when I pulled the trigger I was delighted to see it fly in.”

Gallen was lining up at MacCumhaill Park in the SFC for the first time as part of a trio inside that also included Joel Bradley Walsh and Kevin McCormack. Together they scored 1-11, with Gallen’s 1-4 added to by five Bradley Walsh scores and two points coming from teen McCormack.

“It's great to have that firepower up there,” Gallen added. “To be honest, the three of us wouldn't have played too much football together at all. It feels fresh. We had a bit of 21s last year but not much else. I've played with Joel at underage and I've watched a lot of Kevin. So the hope is now it continues to click, that link up. It was my first game here since last year's championship – the Bundoran game.”

Gallen was part of the county panel this year, although his appearances were limited because of injury before spending time with Donegal Philadelphia over the summer. He admitted to being glued to Twitter when his local club at home were in action and they finished their All-County Football League Division 2 campaign impressively, defeating Milford to seal their promotion in the play-off decider.

“When you do go away like that, part of you is raging as you feel you're missing out,” he added. “We have had a lot of lads come in and were trying to build something together. It was only a few weeks but you want to be a part of it. But it's great to be back. It was great to get the win against Masters and they were two very good championship points. That's three points from two games now but we still know that won't be enough. We have two more very big games coming up.”

The first of those takes place this Sunday, with a tricky trip to take on a much-changed Gaoth Dobhair side, who have maximum points to date. MacCumhaill’s rise in recent seasons is evident, with a semi-final appearance in 2018 and then getting as far as the semi-finals in 2020 and 2021.

Two years ago, MacCumhaill’s came within a whisker of toppling Gaoth Dobhair in the last eight, only to miss out on a 0-14 to 1-10 scoreline with Cian Mulligan kicking what proved to be the winner two weeks after the team from Magheragallon had won the last group stage fixture between the sides by five points. There might be little to choose between the teams on Sunday, with MacCumhaill's hoping to hit the right notes again.

“We've been steady in regards to that, championship, in the last few years,” Gallen said. “We've moved up to Division 1 football as well so the hope will be that pushes the whole thing on as well. Like I said, our championship campaigns have been steady but they haven't been spectacular.

“And we want to start catching the eye now from this point on. Gaoth Dobhair away, we know all about that. We'll be underdogs. They are up there in that top bracket.”