HAVING TRAVELED back from the ‘city that never sleeps’ to line out for his club in Sunday’s Donegal SFC final replay, Eamon McGee admitted he couldn’t keep his eyes open at one stage.
That was two minutes into extra-time, with Gaoth Dobhair and Naomh Conaill gridlocked at 0-9 to 1-6 and Odhran MacNiallais standing over the second penalty of the afternoon at the Town End of MacCumhaill Park. The Gaoth Dobhair talisman went for Stephen McGrath’s top corner but had to be content with a point as the ball went over the crossbar and not under it.
“Aye I didn’t even look, the nerves were shot at that stage and I just seen the boys saying the ball was going over,” McGee said. “I don’t know did he go for goal or a point, but that’s just part of it. We trust Odhran in those situations and he’d come through it the majority of times. By enlarge we had enough chances but we just weren’t clinical enough, and seems to be a trend right through the year.”
MacNiallais’s point from the spot was a score that would be added to as Gaoth Dobhair went into a three-point extra-time lead. In a contest that had thin margins, it was a sizeable advantage. However, Naomh Conaill managed to come back and with time running out, went in front when Ethan O’Donnell punched over from distance. Seaghan Ferry, whose point against Scotstown last year famously won the Ulster Club SFC for Gaoth Dobhair, managed to sneak over an equalizer for a 0-14 to 1-11 draw as Ballybofey drew breath. A second replay will take place on Wednesday night.
“Listen, it’s a bit like last week and we are a bit disappointed, but I suppose we have to put ourselves lucky to be still there.,” McGee admitted. “Glenties dug deep again when we could have put them away, but how many times are we going to let them back into it? Listen, we have a third one to look forward to on Wednesday night and it will be a bit of a novelty. We’ll recover the bodies and try to go again.
“It’s hard to put to Glenties away, they are a championship team. I said three years ago that’s where we aspired to be because they had that championship pedigree. We were learning and that’s where we wanted to get to. A good championship team will just put the team away, but we let them back into it. That’s just part of it, we’ll learn now and get more bloody video. We’ll be sick looking at Glenties at this stage.”
Back from the Big Apple, McGee is content to have another bite of the cherry. Talk over the possibility of a penalty shoot-out to decide the marathon, but despite lining out for Gweedore Celtic on occasion, McGee admitted he wouldn’t have been charging to the front of the queue of takers.
“New York is a crazy city,” he added of his prearranged trip. “it’s not for the Gaith Dobhair men. I came back last night, I got back at 4 o clock this morning so I’m a bit crabit on it. The preparation wasn’t ideal for me but the lads put in a big shift there and I’ll be 100 per cent there come Wednesday night, I’ll recover the body again and be ready to put in a shift. I was sleeping on an off now, I tried my best to get bumped up to business but economy doesn’t suit the big Gaoth Dobhair man.”
“Maybe if I wasn’t flying through the night I would have been fit for a penalty shoot-out, but no – I just think at the end of the day, a winner has to come from somewhere. Like, I wouldn’t have been fit for a penalty but I’m sure the rest of the boys were. But that’s just part of it. Maybe the best thing would have been to pick a winner today. I think we can be too nice. It’s alright being nicey nicey, but you have to have a winner at the end of the day so that’s how it is.”
