By Shaun Casey

AS a slender teenager standing in at corner-forward, there wouldn’t have been too many that could have predicted the career Brendan Donaghy would go on to have.

In 2005, Clonmore’s burning ambition of championship glory was achieved and Donaghy was at the forefront of that success. Fast-forward to 2025 and the former Armagh defender is now a household name.

Having only reached one junior final in their history, which they lost in 1982, Clonmore were back on the big stage in 2005.

In the dying seconds against An Port Mór, all hope seemed lost, but Donaghy had one final say. He knocked home a last-minute goal and for the first time ever, Clonmore were crowned county champions.

The full-forward line that day was Raymond McBennett, James Grimley and Donaghy. This Sunday, those three will line out on county final day two decades later, hoping to add a third championship medal to the successes of 2005 and 2016.

Grimley is the club’s joint playermanager alongside Donaghy, and both are key men on and off the field of play.

“That’s a good way to make myself feel old,” Donaghy laughed when reflecting on ’05.

“There’s still quite a few of us still knocking around so those memories, that’s something that the older boys want the younger lads to have because it stands to you.

“Getting to a final, it’s hard to beat. At a young age, you probably think it’ll happen all the time, but it doesn’t. You have to learn the hard way that they are few and far between, so we’ll enjoy it while we have the chance.”

The older boys like Donaghy and Grimley have given their all to the cause for years but the emergence of some younger talents and fresh faces over the past few years has given the team an extra string in their step.

Sean Quigley, scorer of eight goals in the championship so far, was a county minor in recent seasons. Daniel Cullen was too. Captain Caolan Donaghy spent time in Kieran McGeeney’s training squad not so long ago.

“Sean has been excellent for us all year, Daniel Cullen has been excellent, and Ultan Molloy at corner-back,” added Donaghy after their semi-final win over Thomas Davis.

“Everybody has really put their hands up right throughout the year and everybody is pushing hard at this stage, it’s hard to beat. They do a lot of the hard work that some of us older boys just aren’t fit for.

“They’re a great outlet to have legs that can run for days and there’s a reason why they’ve been on minor and u-20 panels and knocking the door with the seniors as well.”

The playermanager position isn’t too common these days but the group of players that Clonmore have makes Donaghy’s job a while lot easier. They’re a tight-knit unit and they all want to win together.

“I can’t knock the group of boys that we have,” added the 2008 Ulster Championship winner. “Because myself and James are still playing and managing, it’s because it’s being led by the group. “Ultimately if I wasn’t pulling my weight, someone within the group would pull me up on it. The likes of Caolan Donaghy, Sean Quigley, Daniel Cullen, those boys all want the best out of us.

“We don’t have to go knocking on anyone’s door if they’ve missed training, ultimately the other players are going to be asking the same questions. Whenever you get to this stage of the year, everybody wants to play.

“You notice at training, there’s a real buzz because everyone wants that opportunity to play so it becomes very organic whenever the groups leading it. We’re not having to rely on somebody to come from outside of the group to pull us into line.”

Middletown, who beat league champions An Port Mór in the semi-final, are the opposition on Sunday and they are hoping to end their own long wait for a county title. They last won the competition back in 2008 and Donaghy is expecting a tough test in the final with many of the opposition players chasing dual honours after the hurling final last weekend.

“Our objective at the start of the year was to get in and around the latter stages of the championship. In the quarter-final we didn’t do ourselves justice but, in the semi-final, we showed glimpses of what we can do.

“I saw Middletown at the start of the year and one of the best teams we have played all year was Middletown. In the second last game of the league, in Middletown, we won by four or five, but they dogged us all the way.

“They have a pile of fit players, and they have plenty of youth on their side but again they have that bit of experience as well. They’re not in the final because they’re a bad team, An Port Mór won the league, but the way Middletown went about their business was impressive.

“They’re not worried about one player kicking ten points, they have a really good team unit built up and I know Ronan Clarke is in coaching so as much as we think we’re well prepared, they’re arguably better prepared.”