NEIL GALLAGHER has been around the Donegal set-up for over a decade, but the desire to bring more glory back to Tír Chonaill is as strong as ever, as Andy Watters found out...
PERSISTENCE pays off and Neil Gallagher agrees to a rare interview.
“You’re grand, what’s the craic?” asks the Donegal midfielder after I apologise for badgering him into submission. What comes across most over the next 15 minutes or so is that Gallagher is someone who just loves playing football. He trains hard, as hard as he has to, but in the end playing ball is what it’s all about. You can keep the other stuff - like doing interviews for example.
The Glenswilly clubman begins his 13th season for Donegal with the same enthusiasm he had when Brian McEniff first called him up to the panel way back in 2003: “Jesus, time just rattles in,” he says as he reflects on a career that shows no signs of running out of steam.
Since McEniff departed, Brian McIver, John Joe Doherty and Jim McGuinness have come and gone, Rory Gallagher has taken over and Neil Gallagher remains an ever-present.
That hasn’t always been the case of course. The best midfielders need time to mature and develop before they make their mark and that was the case with Gallagher. Doherty dropped him in 2009 following a shock Ulster SFC defeat to Antrim and he found it hard to get a game in 2011 when Jim McGuinness came in. He got his head down and fought his way back into the team. Since then, he’s picked up an All-Ireland medal, two Allstars and two Ulster titles.
McGuinness bowed out after the All-Ireland final defeat in 2014 and Rory Gallagher took over. Like every county manager, Gallagher introduced a pool of fresh-faced youngsters for the Dr McKenna Cup. Tír Chonaill's results weren’t great, but Gallagher says the performances of the new boys were encouraging.
“They’re all well capable, good players and I’m sure Rory will play whoever is going well, whoever is training well,” he said.
“If they’re good enough, they’ll get experience and they’ll be playing.”
He’s delighted to see a crop of promising youngsters cut their teeth, but he has no intention of handing over his jersey: “Everybody wants to play and I’m no different,” said Gallagher.
“I’ll be mad to get starting and playing too, but competition from anybody coming on, anybody playing, is going to drive you on. It makes you try that bit harder if your place is under threat, which is good for the team. It’s good if that pushes that other individual on but, no matter what their age is, whoever is going well and training hard will be getting the games.”
The first of those games is a trip to Páirc Esler to face Éamonn Burns’ Down on January 31. Imagine the impact that having a player like Gallagher would make to Down. He can win the ball in midfield, pass it, he’s good in defensive situations and he can operate at full-forward too. Some boy for one boy.
“Down is a tough enough oul start,” says Gallagher, who’s a partner in Michael Murphy Sports & Leisure with his illustrious county colleague.
“We went there a couple of years ago and played them in the league and they beat us by a couple of points as far as I can remember and they’ll still have a good few of the boys playing from that. They’ve a new manager and the boys will be mad to impress. But I’m looking forward to it.
“All any team wants is to get off to a good start and ourselves and Down are going to be no different - both of us are going to want to get off to a win at the start. It’s going to be a tough one up there. It’s a great stadium and a good pitch, a fairly big pitch too.”
Down were Ulster finalists in 2003 when Gallagher first came onto the inter-county scene. Four years later, the Glenswilly clubman was skipper when Brian McIver’s side won the National League with a three-point victory over Mayo in the final. Season after season has zipped by since.
“It’s funny to think that 2007 was my third year and this is nine years after that,” said Gallagher.
“It doesn’t be long going in, but players just want games and it’s good to be looking forward to the league. Obviously, the Championship is the important one but, for me, I just look forward to the games, big time. It gives you a different challenge and every game is different then too and you learn a lot more than training.”
The trip to Newry is the first of four this year - journeys to Kerry, Dublin and Monaghan follow, while Cork, Mayo and Roscommon will visit Donegal. Last year, Donegal picked up just one point from their away games - they drew in Mayo and lost in Kerry and Dublin. However, good home form which saw them past Derry, Cork and Tyrone and secured a berth in the semi-finals.
“Dublin, Kerry and Monaghan are going to be three tight games,” Gallagher agreed.
“Monaghan beat us last year in the league and even the home games are tight too. But last year, we got to the semi-finals [although Cork turned us over fairly well in the end], so if you go on a run, things open up for you. On the other hand, if you get off to a bad start, the pressure comes on and there’s always the threat of relegation. They are all tight games, so a good start, hopefully, is what we’ll be planning for.”
Tight games come with the territory in Division One of course and Gallagher says rubbing shoulders with Kerry, Dublin, Mayo and the rest will do Donegal’s youngsters no harm at all.
“The games test your squad and players get up for them,” he said.
“It’s important too because Rory has introduced a lot of younger fellas to the team. I remember when I started off we were in Division One and we were going out against Tyrone in one of the first games I played. They were on the back of winning the All-Ireland, so to go out and get tested in league matches is good experience and it’s great introduction for a couple of them young fellas that’s just on the panel.”
Gallagher will be 33 in May, part of an old guard that includes the McGee brothers Neil and Éamonn, Karl Lacey, Christy Toye and Colm McFadden. Also included is Rory Kavanagh, who returned to the panel after spending last season on the sidelines.
“I haven’t really got chatting to him too much about missing last year and not being part of it, but he knows himself that he’s well capable of it still,” said Gallagher.
“He probably missed it and stuff like that, but he’s a great boost to have back in for his experience and the way he plays because he’s still well capable of it for another couple of years yet.”
Kavanagh missed out on a summer of highs and lows in 2015. Donegal dazzled in Armagh, but their season fizzled out after losses to Monaghan (in the Ulster final) and Mayo (in the All-Ireland quarter-final).
“If we had beat Monaghan and I know it’s a big if, they would have been saying ‘the hard games stood to them, the hard run stood to Donegal’. That’s just the way it went,” said Gallagher.
“Monaghan were the better team on the day and that’s just it - no matter what, the best team always wins on the day. That’s the way it goes, it was disappointing obviously and we got beat by Mayo - that bad goal just before half-time and then giving away the second goal to Lee Keegan just after half-time, against a good team like Mayo it was probably a bit too much to come back from.
“Ah listen, that’s the way it goes. You hear this and that about players and the age profile and stuff like that, but we don’t read too much into it. If you’re feeling fit and going well, you’ll be playing. It’s good to be looking forward to another year, once you get over the disappointment of the defeats players just be mad to get out playing again.
“It’ll be a good year. Hopefully, it’ll be a long year. We’ll be training away and training hard and, hopefully, we can get a good run.”
LOOK OUT FOR
There were lots of new faces in Rory Gallagher’s Dr McKenna Cup panel.
Results weren’t spectacular - a win over Down was followed by losses to St Mary’s and Cavan. But among the encouraging signs was the form of Naomh Conaill’s Ciarán Thompson - brother of Anthony and Leon - who scored three points against Down from midfield, while Eoghan ‘Bán’ Gallagher impressed at wing half-back
Gallagher was without one of the county’s brightest talents, St Eunan’s teenager Rory Carr, who dislocated his shoulder in an U21 club game, but he also brought in Danny Rodgers (Dungloe), Stephen McMenamin (Red Hugh’s), Kieran Gillespie (Gaoth Dobhair), Michael Carroll (Gaoth Dobhair), Stephen McBrearty (Kilcar), Caolan McGonigle (Buncrana), Jack O’Brien (Naomh Muire), Tony McClenaghan (Moville) and Caolan Ward (St Eunan’s).
Nine of this squad were part of Declan Bonner's minor side that reached the All-Ireland final two years ago. Bonner has now moved up the management tree to the U21 side and he and Gallagher will be sharing this highly-talented group of youngsters.
Former Derry City midfielder Cillian Morrison was also called onto the panel that includes 2012 All-Ireland winner Rory Kavanagh.
VERDICT
Paul Durcan is the only player from last year’s panel known to be seriously contemplating retirement. Goalkeeper ‘Papa’ is working in Qatar and - given his short-stopping ability and accuracy from kick-outs - he would be a huge loss to the side.
Otherwise, it’s as you where and All-Ireland winner Rory Kavanagh has returned to the fold after missing out on last season. There’s a feeling Donegal could be gathering themselves for a final mighty heave. Champion players like Neil Gallagher, Colm McFadden, Karl Lacey, Éamonn McGee and Neil McGee can’t go on forever and will want to go out on a high.
Mark McHugh has been “training on his own”, but is expected to return and, if he gets up to full fitness and Gallagher can get the best out of promising youngster Darach ‘Jigger’ O’Connor in attack, then Donegal could certainly be challengers once again.
There were worrying signs towards the end of last season’s Championship campaign that Donegal had run out of steam. But was that down to their hectic schedule? A gruelling Ulster campaign that included wins against Armagh, Tyrone and Derry had ended in defeat to Monaghan in a who-blinks-first final at Clones. The Tír Chonaill men recovered to get past Galway, but Mayo ended their run at the All-Ireland quarter-final stage.
The westerners looked half-a-yard sharper all over the field in that game and Gallagher will need to introduce some fresh legs and conserve the energy reserves of his experienced players for Donegal to push further among the elite this year.
