Football

Gaoth Dobhair manager Mervyn O'Donnell hails class of Corofin

Gaoth Dobhair manager Mervyn O'Donnell has guided his side to Donegal and Ulster titles this season
Gaoth Dobhair manager Mervyn O'Donnell has guided his side to Donegal and Ulster titles this season Gaoth Dobhair manager Mervyn O'Donnell has guided his side to Donegal and Ulster titles this season

GAOTH Dobhair are about to take on the Rolls Royce of the GAA club scene as they tangle with reigning Galway, Connacht and All-Ireland champions Corofin in Carrick-on-Shannon tomorrow.

That’s the considered view of their youthful team manager Mervyn O’Donnell as he prepares to lead his young troops into their biggest ever battle against the all-conquering Galway side.

And so, the dream continues in a truly remarkable year for the Gaeltacht club, whose initial target was the Donegal county championship.

But they have left Cargin, Crossmaglen Rangers and Scotstown as the fallen on the field of battle in Ulster.

O’Donnell freely admits that every win in Ulster for a squad with 12 players aged in and around 22 was a bonus, but someone forget to tell his uber-confident young charges as they have stormed into the All-Ireland semi-final.

However, it has been a long and less-than-ideal wait for the men from the north-west since their historic victory over Scotstown.

“Of course it should be played out in the calendar year, but Corofin have to deal with it as well, although they are more used to dealing with it than us,” he said.

“I suppose it is more of a mental thing.”

Gaoth Dobhair have not been idle, playing challenge matches in London and Dublin, as well as taking on St Enda’s, Belfast and Donegal U20s to keep their focus.

“It was to give everyone a little match practice, you can train and run around cones all day but you need the matches and it is very important how you fill in those few months waiting for this big game,” O’Donnell said.

“It has not been too difficult to be focused, it is just a mental thing with the length of time between the games.

“We are 13 months into this with just a two-week break but we are not too bad apart from the long-term loss of Kieran Gillespie, who is a huge absence from that match in Cargin.”

Donegal was always the target last year after the disappointment of 2017 and Gaoth Dobhair were helped that reigning champions Kilcar were without Ryan McHugh and Paddy McBrearty.

“Yes we wanted to win the county title but Ulster was definitely bonus territory,” he said.

“But we had an inner belief and beating Crossmaglen Rangers was a real turning point for us.

“They were not the Cross they were and there was, and is, a serious hunger in us with the young lads and the older players like the McGees and Kevin Cassidy saying that ‘this might be our last chance’.”

Then they took out a very experienced Scotstown side in the Ulster final.

“We watched them against Coleraine and Coleraine should have won it and Scotstown did not play all that well, but they certainly played very well against us.

“They got their match-ups on us and had us pinned down and it went down to just one kick of the ball in the end.

“Eamon McGee’s quick thinking was crucial for that winning point. People talk about systems winning matches and styles of play, but it is often intelligence, instinct and experience that decides otherwise very even contests.”

When asked about the challenge posed by Corofin, O’Donnell said:

“I watched their county final and the Connacht final and they are the Rolls Royce of Gaelic football. They have players who can win matches all over the pitch.

“They also have a great understanding of how to win matches and they have a great ability to come back when they go behind, and they can ram in two goals in a heartbeat.

“They have scored 18 goals in all competitions this year and that is a big danger and they have scoring threats all over the field.

“Ian Burke, the Farraghers, Michael Lundy, Gary Sice and Kieran Molloy are all top performers and they also have the hurler Daithí Burke and Kieran Fitzgerald.

“It is not a case of having to mark just three or four, they have top quality all over the field.”

O’Donnell does not accept that youthful Gaoth Dobhair might just have a slight edge in terms of pace.

“It will be a great battle between Cass and Kieran Fitzgerald at the other end, but they too break at great pace so that kind of cancels things out.

“The pitch could be a major factor here and could slow things down but Corofin have serious pace when they turn you over and that is a worry.”

Corofin like to play attacking football and that might play slightly to Gaoth Dobhair who are “currently in dreamland” according to O’Donnell.

“Yes, it is a great occasion for us, but we really are up against it.”

But little has changed all year as this exceptional side continues to defy the odds with a smile on their face.

And they might just continue that trend.