The Donegal County Board are considering a request from TG4 to show the 2018 Donegal SFC final live.
Naomh Conaill and Gaoth Dobhair go toe-to-toe in Sunday-week’s final at Sean MacCumhaill Park.
The eagerly-awaited final, the showpiece game in the Donegal GAA calendar, has whet the appetites since the semi-finals at the weekend, when Naomh Conaill overcame Glenswilly and Gaoth Dobhair defeated Sean MacCumhaills.
Producers from TG4 have approached Donegal officials to discuss the possibility of screening the big game, Donegal County Chairman Mick McGrath told the launch of the 2018 final, held in the Waterfront Hotel in Dungloe.
County officiers, he said, would make a decision ‘in the coming days’.
It will be Naomh Conaill’s sixth final appearance in the last ten years with Gaoth Dobhair – who have won Dr Maguire 14 times in their storied history – in their first final since their last victory, in 2006.
“It’s hunger and desire that keeps bringing us to the knockout stage,” Naomh Conaill manager Martin Regan said.
“We have been consistent, but we haven’t won as much as we’d have liked. It’s their love for football that keeps bringing those lads back. This is what they live for in Glenties.
“Everyone is driving us on and pushing us on. Every year, you always have to have a reason to kick on and win another one.”
Gaoth Dobhair were six points up in a 2017 semi-final, but let it slip and Naomh Conaill advanced to a final they lost to Kilcar.
Earlier this year, Gaoth Dobhair won an Ulster Under-21 title and a flurry of that squad are back-boning the drive for a 15th title.
“We have a nice group of lads coming through,” said Gaoth Dobhair boss Mervyn O’Donnell.
“Sometimes you get a purple patch with guys coming through. That happens every club and we’re experiencing it now.
“We turned a corner last year, getting out of the group. We figured out last year that we weren’t far away. We got confidence and that goes a long way.”
O’Donnell admitted that a lack of court final experience was a concern.
He said: “We have to be realistic. Glenties have been there and done that and their average age is way higher.”
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