BY the time you have read this the Donegal Senior Champions should be crowned!

After our draw last weekend after extra-time, both teams have to do it all again.

There are deadlines in this industry so I’m writing this column for my friends at Gaelic Life before the game last night and hopefully the mood will be good when I’m reading it today.

The second game was a lot better than the first day out with more scores and more forward-moving football. Both teams could have won it and both will be happy enough to get another go at it.

We would be disappointed that we didn’t put the game to bed when we went three up and Glenties will feel like they could have hung on after going one point up with three minutes still to play.

This second replay is a first here in Donegal and it will be a bit surreal playing a county final on a Wednesday night but needs must.

With the Ulster Club starting this weekend the game must have a winner so it’s all hands to the pump and full focus is on getting the body ready to go to war once more.

We will have a winner as provisions have been made to end the contest in a penalty shoot-out should both teams remain level after extra-time.

For whoever wins it will have been all worth it but somewhere in the back of the minds thoughts of Sunday’s clash with Cavan champions Castlerahan will soon start to surface.

For whoever wins, it won’t be ideal but nonetheless the winners will just have to suck it up and try put in a big shift in Cavan.

Our camp hasn’t even entertained the thought of playing in Ulster just yet and I’m sure Glenties are the same. For now it’s all about this game and trying to get over the line.

This weekend sees the start of the Ulster Club with the preliminary game already out of the way when Derrygonnelly beat Cargin up in Belfast.

There are some big-hitters in the mix and we should see some great action over the next couple of weeks.

The way the competition is structured, it will be played off within six weeks with games taking place every two weeks. This is ideal for teams and allows for some recovery whilst also allowing teams to keep their momentum.

With Gaoth Dobhair still playing out our championship, I haven’t been able to look as closely as the teams that have made it through as I would have liked.

I know that there are some tasty looking ties this weekend so the footballing public will be in for a treat.

One clash that stands out is the meeting of Ulster kingpins Cross who meet a Clontibret team lead by the free-scoring Conor McManus and coached by Cross legend John McEntee. That game should be a cracker with all the sideshows to go along with it.

Other big names like Kilcoo are in the mix with a few teams making their return to the big stage after some years of absence. One team I would keep and eye out for is Tyrone champions Trillick as there is a lot of talk about them. They have some serious power in their team and will be a force to be reckoned with.

During our own training here we had to travel to Omagh on a number of occasions to meet up with our Dublin lads and the Trillick lads trained at the same venue. They looked to have a solid squad and seemed pretty clued in so it will be interesting to see how they go.

Like I said we haven’t had the luxury of sitting back eying up teams over the last few weeks. For us the here and now is all about trying to get the Job completed the third time around.