McBride doesn’t want Dungloe journey to end

BY RYAN FERRY

DUNGLOE corner-back Jason McBride is relishing his club’s intermediate journey and he doesn’t want it to come to a halt this week in Celtic Park.

The Rosses men were beaten in the Donegal intermediate decider after a replay last year but have come back very strongly in 2022.

They won the Cathal McLaughlin Cup in impressive style and then saw off Dunloy in their Ulster opener two weeks ago.

Now they face a Galbally side who are enjoying a rich vein of form and Dungloe will go into Sunday’s match as underdogs.

However, McBride has backed his side to deliver the performance they need to get through to the provincial decider.

“It’s been an unbelievable season and nobody wants this journey to stop.

“We have been meeting up collectively five times a week for the last 11 months.

“A lot of work has gone in with our S&C over the last two years, and everyone has put in a big shift.

“You have boys like Danny Rodgers and Christy Greene who are working in Dublin and travelling up and down the road to play.

“We have full belief in ourselves and we know if we play to our ability then we can give anyone a good game.”

The world of remote working has been a most welcome addition for club footballers in Donegal in recent years, and McBride is just one of many players who has been able to take advantage.

“I’m working as a quantity surveyor. I work two days in Dublin and then three from home.

“I go up on a Monday and work Tuesday before coming down the road in time for training.

“In fairness my employers are very good to me especially at this time of the year when the club championship is on.”

Dungloe have a good crop of players in their twenties who are driving the team on.

They won an u-16 Division 1 title in 2013, beating St Eunan’s in the final.

McBride was corner-back in that team, and was joined by Danny Rodgers, Matthew Ward, and the Curran brothers, Mark and Barry.

Ryan Connors was full-forward in that young side, and he is unlucky to miss out on Dungloe’s run as he is deemed ineligible after playing championship football in Philadelphia during the summer.

McBride said: “We won an u-16 title back in 2013 and that was probably the last time we had any real success before this year.

“We had a good group back then and a lot of players have stayed about.

“Some of the best players from that team like Ryan Greene have moved on and he’s a massive loss to us.

“In fairness compared with other age groups we have kept a lot of those boys at home.

“The likes of Noel McBride, Gerard Walsh, and Darren Curran held on when everyone else was heading away.”

Dungloe had a six-week wait after winning the Donegal championship, and that didn’t seem to have an impact in their Ulster opener against Antrim champions, Dunloy in Ahoghill.

They just weren’t as sharp as they needed to be, but produced an excellent second half performance to win by seven points.

“The six-week break was long but in fairness to Ronan Brennan, he kept a close eye on things. He tapered down the training for a few weeks and then ramped it back up again.

“The game against Dunloy was a tough introduction to Ulster football and it took us a while early on to get to grips with it.”