JAMIE Brennan’s low centre of gravity, strength to break through tackles, pace to burst away from defenders and skill to find the net or split the posts all mark him out as a special talent.
The Bundoran forward continued his superb run of form in the Ulster Championship with a match-winning 1-4 against Cavan in Sunday’s final which brought his individual tally to 2-11 in three games.
There were echoes of the class and determination of Down All-Ireland winner James McCartan about his run and finish into the back of the Cavan net in the second half at Clones but Brennan rejected comparisons with the former Allstar corner-forward who was also in St Tiernach’s Park on Sunday with the Mourne team of 1994.
“Yeah, I saw him there today,” said Brennan.
“I don’t know about that (being a similar player) now. I was just glad to get the goal – I thought I was fouled and then I dropped the ball to make sure I wasn’t over-carrying it and it fell nicely.”
He swept the ball into the net with his right foot and Donegal never looked back. The final margin was five points which, in truth, flattered Cavan.
“We have been grafting the whole way from October and this title means so much to this group,” said Brennan.
“We’ve been putting in the hard yards and winning back-to-back Ulsters is really special. It means so much to everyone in Donegal.”
With wins over Tyrone, Cavan and Fermanagh under their belts, Donegal approach the Super 8s with real confidence but Brennan – who also scored in every round of last year’s provincial Championship – says talk of taking down five in-a-row chasing Dublin is premature.
“It’s a bit early to be at that craic,” he said.
“We’ll knuckle down in the Super 8s and see how that goes. We’re in Ballybofey for the first game so that’ll be good.”
If the Tir Chonaill men do get a chance to tangle with the Dubs, Brennan says the experience of the Michael Murphy, Neil McGee and Frank McGlynn – all veterans of the surprise win over the then All-Ireland champions back in 2014 - will be vital.
“Having them around the panel is special, they are one-in-a-million lads and you learn off them all the time,” he said.
“Paddy (McBrearty) is the same. He’s a great fella and he’ll do whatever he can to get you into a game. He has a lot of experience, he’s been in around the tram since 2012 so he knows the whole craic. I try and learn off him and he’s playing some good stuff too.
“Like, within our own team it’s ruthless – if you’re not performing we have a lot of young lads who are chomping at the bit to get in there.
“You are trying to get your own game sorted to make sure you’re not on the bench and you hold your place. You have the likes of Oisin Gallen in now – he was man of the match in the League final and all those boys are ready to go too.”
Cavan were well beaten on Sunday but the Breffnimen salvaged pride from the game and go into the Qualifiers with their heads held high.
“They stuck at us the whole way through and they are a hard team to play against,” said Brennan.
“They kept at it and they have great footballers – McVeety, McKiernan, Moynagh… They’re top footballers and they’ll have to be watched now.”
