Regan: Naomh Conaill were far from our best

By Ryan Ferry

NAOMH Conaill manager Martin Regan didn’t feel that his team were at their best on Sunday but they still picked up a huge Donegal semi-final win over St Eunan’s.

It was a massive tie between what is regarded as the top two sides in the county but Regan’s men were good value for their 0-11 to 0-9 victory.

The Davy Brennan Memorial Park men can now look forward to a ninth county final in ten seasons with Gaoth Dobhair lying in wait.

“We’re delighted,” Regan said after Sunday’s semi-final.

“We knew it was going to come down to the wire and down to the last kick of the game and that’s the way it transpired.

“We’re just glad to come out on the right side of it. For maybe the first 20 or 25 minutes we played some really good football.

“But as a whole over the 60 minutes we weren’t at our best and we will need to find a little more in the next two weeks.”

St Eunan’s were left to rue 11 wides and some poor decision-making while Naomh Conaill were more economical.

Regan said: “Definitely St Eunan’s had most of the possession in the game. They were probably up at 60 or 70 per cent.

“But we looked like we could score every time we went forward.

“We had only one wide throughout the game and that was huge because St Eunan’s kicked a lot of wides that they wouldn’t normally.

“Getting our hands on the ball was difficult and it was tough going for spells but we will see what improvements we can make now.”

Gaoth Dobhair will appear in their first final in four years after they saw off Sean Mac Cumhaill’s in the semi-final. Oisin Gallen scored ten points but Gaoth Dobhair still won by 3-9 to 0-11, and corner-back James Ó Baoill was happy with the win.

“Semi-finals are just about getting over the line at the end of the day.

“Mac Cumhaill’s are a great outfit with some great footballers like (Oisín) Gallen and (Joel) Bradley Walsh.

He added: “We’re happy to get over the line and we will look forward to the final now.”