It is a big well done to St. Michael's on winning the U-21 championship. By all accounts they played very well and were deserving winners. It is a great boost to the club. But their success comes as no great surprise to me. I was a guest at their presentation dance recently and I was amazed at the structures they have in place and the amount of people they have working in the club.
Sunday's win is a great credit to all involved, both the players and the people working behind the scenes and putting in the hard slog week in and week out. They have put in a huge effort at underage level over the last ten years and it is paying off
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It was hard luck on Naomh Conaill, they were chasing a record four in-a-row. But they have enjoyed a great deal of success in recent years I have no doubt they will enjoy much more in the years to come. And no more than St. Michael's they have been doing the work at underage and they are going to remain a force in Donegal into the future. They have a crop of quality footballers and I believe they will become a force at senior level in the coming years.
I was speaking to both Jim McGuinness (County U-21 manager) and Charlie Mulgrew (County minor manager) who both had work outs on Saturday as they stepped up their preparations in advance of their respective competitions in the coming weeks.
The U-21s played Sligo in a challenge game in Ballyshannon and were beaten by a point. With the county U-21 final on Sunday, Jim was short a number of players but otherwise was happy enough with the game as he used his full compliment of subs. It is a pity that the U-21 championship dragged on as it has hampered Jim's preparations. But even of bigger concern is the fear that the lads from St. Michael's and Naomh Conaill might be feeling a little tired and drained after their campaigns.
Charlie had two games with Leitrim in Bundoran. I had planned to go up to see them but I was not in the best of form and did not make it. But he was telling me the first team lost their game and the seconds side won theirs.
The clock is ticking on both teams. The minors have their first game against Fermanagh on Saturday week, in O'Donnell Park, while the U-21's play Armagh in the first round of the Ulster championship in three weeks time in Omagh.
It is important that they both do well as we need to get some success at both levels for the good of football in the county.
Congratulations to Andrew Wallace and the hurlers. They have got their league season off to a great start with two wins out of two games. It is good to see them winning and to see a young manager coming in and doing well.
Finally, this week, I am still awaiting a copy of my interview in Gaelic Life. I have requested a copy and they promised to have it with me by the weekend but as of 12 noon today (Monday) as we speak, I have not received it. As I said last week, until I have listened to the tape in full I do not wish to comment on the matter other than to reiterate again that it was not my intention to offend anyone. Again if I did, I apologise for doing so.
Brian McEniff was in conversation with Tom Comack
