GARY MCDAID, the St Eunan’s College manager, expressed disappointment yesterday at remarks made by the outgoing Donegal Coaching Officer at Sunday’s County Convention.
McDaid – pictured above by Geraldine Diver – was speaking after St Eunan’s lost out to Patrician High School, Carrickmacross in the Ulster Colleges Loch an Luir final at Garvaghey. Despite a first-half goal by Shane Monaghan, Eunan’s went down 0-12 to 1-5.
At Sunday’s Convention, Anthony Harkin – who has completed his five-year term and has since been replaced by St Mary’s Convoy clubman Conor McDermott – floated the suggestion of amalgamated teams playing in the MacRory Cup.
“Give at least some of our second level players an opportunity in the MacRory Cup ‘A’ football with amalgamated Donegal North and Donegal South in the Ulster Schools,” Mr Harkin wrote.
An amalgamation of Inishowen’s second level schools – under the banner of Coláiste Inis Eoghain – has played in Ulster competitions.
Mr Harkin said: “Apart from County Vocational, only one Donegal team has won Ulster ‘A’ schools medals in 100 years.”
However, McDaid strongly hit back yesterday.
“The school is doing massive work and pushing hard,” he said.
“We were in the Rannafast Cup quarter-finals, our seniors topped their MacLarnon Cup group, this team reached the final and the Under-13s and Under-15s will start after Christmas.
“It was disappointing after Convention to read the comments that came out about teams being back in the MacRory Cup.
[adrotate group=”46″]“We haven’t had a phonecall or a visit in the last five years to offer any help or advice.
“We are pushing hard and there is massive work going on.
“Maybe if we got help from the coaching officer, they could offer us something, but I’m sure the new coaching officer will be better in that regard.”
McDaid said his side ‘didn’t play anywhere near to our potential’ in yesterday’s decider.
He said: “We didn’t score enough with the breeze in the first half. We looked dangerous with Jack Roarty in there. Then in the second half, we were very dominant and had a lot of possession but just couldn’t get the scores on the board.
“We rushed and panicked when we should have just kept the scoreboard ticking.”
Listen to the full interview below …
https://soundcloud.com/donegalsporthub-club-notes/gary-mcdaid-after-st-eunans-college-lose-loch-an-luir-final
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