Our Games: Ex Donegal and St Eunan’s star John Haran

Name: John Haran.

Teams played for: St Eunan’s, St Mary’s Belfast, St Jarlath’s Tuam, Donegal.

Current involvement: Chairman of St Eunan’s.

Which Club game, that you played in, will you never forget and why?

Best club game: There are a few that spring to mind. My first Senior Championship final in 1997 when we won against all the odds was great. Being captain in 2007 when we won the championship was great. Winning MOTM at 38 in the 2014 county final was nice but the stand-out game was against Naomh Conaill in the 2007 championship first round. The context to this game was that we had lost the 2005 and 2006 Championship finals to Naomh Conaill and Gaoth Dobhair when we were hot favourites. In 2007 we were drawn against Naomh Conaill in the first round. In the first game in Glenties we were hammered by 12 or 13 points. Big Kevin Rafferty went off injured along with a couple of others. The second game was in O’Donnell Park six days later. We had only 14 fit players. Brendan Kilcoyne our manager got a young 17-year-old called Eamonn Doherty to train with us that week and he started him at wing-back that Saturday. I have never been in a dressing room like it before a match, it was electric. It was a real turning point for that team. We blew them away and went on to win the next three championships in a row, 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Which club game, that you watched, will you never forget and why?

The club game I remember most is the Tyrone SFC final of 2003. My wife is from Killyclogher and her three brothers Mark, Sean and Peter O’Kane were all on that team. They had been knocking on the door around that time and had never won a Senior Championship before, so to see them winning it was great. They are a big GAA family and Killyclogher is a great club and deserved that title. When a club wins a Senior Championship for the first time the emotion it brings is always special.

Which county game, that you played in, will you never forget and why?

The county game I played in would have to be the All-Ireland quarter-final against Galway in Croke Park in 2003. I had played with a few of the Galway lads while in St Jarlath’s, Tuam, players like Michael Donnellan, Pauric and Tommy Joyce, Declan and Thomas Meehan. I came on as sub in the second half, the game was tight and the atmosphere was great with about 60,000 there. I scored a point near the end to put Donegal one up and had a great chance shortly afterwards to score again but instead gave a bad pass inside which was cut out and allowed Galway up the field to equalise. It was brilliant atmosphere and the noise near the end was deafening.

Which county game, that you watched, will you never forget and why?

The county game was probably the 2014 All-Ireland semi-final between Donegal and Dublin. It was a brilliant occasion with a packed house and the Dubs hot favourites. They started fast and could have been out of sight after 20 minutes but Donegal stayed in the game and began to get a foothold and the goal before half time gave us a real lift. Jim McGuinness’s plan was brilliant in the second half and the goals on the break were a thing of beauty. I have never seen a Donegal team play as well against such good opposition. The great pity was that Donegal couldn’t reach those same heights in the final against a poor enough Kerry team.

What was the funniest thing you ever saw in a game?

Funniest thing at a game was in 2003 when Donegal played Longford in a challenge game in Grange, Sligo in February before the league started. It was a horrible day. Anyway Brendan Devenney fakes an injury after 15 minutes so he came come off. Brian McEniff turns around to the subs bench and asks Johnny McCafferty from Termon to warm up. Johnny replies, ‘Jesus Brian you wouldn’t put a dog out in that weather’. The whole subs bench burst out laughing. McEniff goes mad and shout back, ‘Johnny do you want to play for your county or not?’ poor Johnny had to go on. He wasn’t impressed.

What was the strangest thing you ever saw in a game?

Strangest thing I probably ever seen on a pitch was a big ginger-haired lad taking off his jersey and running to the crowd after scoring a late goal in the 1999 county final for St Eunan’s. He must have thought he was Paolo Di Canio.

What was the most memorable performance from a player in a game that you watched?

Most memorable performance from a player that I watched is difficult. Pauric Joyce against Meath in 2001 All-Ireland final was special, Peter Canavan in ‘95 against the Dubs, I saw Mark Bradley in the replay final against Coalisland in 2016 was brilliant, but I’ll have to give it to big Neil Gallagher for his performance against Cork in the 2012 All-Ireland semi-final. He was brilliant and caught some ball that day. Neil still says his best game ever for Donegal was against Wicklow in a Qualifier game in Aughrim.

What was the most memorable performance from a player in a game that you played?

Best performance from a player in a game I played in would have to be Brendan Devenney’s 14 points in the 1999 final victory against Ballyshannon. He was on fire that day and I don’t his record has been broken since. 0-7 from play and 0-7 from frees and some of the frees he won himself and they weren’t all easy.

What did you love about the games you played in?

The thing I loved most about playing was the craic afterwards especially a big win. Everyone would be on a high and you would be in a good mood for the whole week until the next game.

What did you hate about the games you played in?

The thing I hated most was not knowing when the next game would be played. Looking back on it now club players were treated very badly regarding fixtures. I remember playing league finals around Christmas time. You could go eight weeks in the summer without a game. It was crazy.