Some tough draws for Inishowen 01.04.10
INISHOWEN clubs have been
handed some tough draws in the 2010 Donegal Gaelic
football championships. In the senior championship,
Buncrana have drawn 2006 champions Gaoth Dobhair while
Malin will play 2003 winners Four Masters. Moville, who
won last year’s Junior Football Championship, have been
drawn against Naomh Columba in preliminary round of the
Intermediate Championship. Indeed, all Inishowen
entrants in the Intermediate championship have been
drawn in the preliminary round: Urris will play Milford
and Carndonagh will play Naomh Bríd.
Having faced off in the opening round of the League last
weekend, Naomh Colmcille and Naomh Pádraig Iskaheen have
been drawn together in the quarter-finals of the Junior
Football Championship while Burt have been drawn against
Lifford in the preliminary round.
The draws were made on Raidió na Gaeltachta on Tuesday
afternoon, some six weeks later than anticipated after
Mac Cumhaill’s appealed against their exclusion from the
Senior Football Championship. The Ulster Council
rejected the appeal last Thursday and the County
Executive wasted no time in making the draw.
“It will be a tough battle, but every team can be beaten
and Gaoth Dobhair are no different,” said Buncrana’s
Malachy McCann. “We’re not going down to Magheragallon
for the craic. We have top quality players and on our
day we’re hard to stop. Both the senior and reserve
teams will be going full steam ahead for the
championship this year.”
Buncrana defeated Gaoth Dobhair in the league at the
Scarvey last year, something McCann feels his charges
can do again.
“That win was no fluke,” he says. “We lost one of our
best players, Ryan Bradley, to injury during that match
but the boys went on to win it and I see no reason why
we can’t do the same again.”
County champions St Eunan’s have drawn Aodh Ruadh while
last year’s beaten finalist Naomh Conaill will play
Kilcar.
“All the big teams seem to have been kept apart,” Malin
manager Louis Walsh said of the SFC draw. “There doesn’t
seem to be one standout tie.”
“With a number of current and former county players Four
Masters have lots of experience, but our players are
really looking forward to this tie,” he said. “We’ll
need to keep injury free, but our U21s were very unlucky
to lose to Four Masters in the championship back in
January and we’ll hope to put that right in May and
June.”
Urris have been drawn against newly promoted Milford.
“They contested last year’s Junior final, but they’ll be
a tough nut to crack,” manager John Friel said. “Being
drawn in the preliminary round means more championship
games – if you win through, of course. But you can’t
take anything for granted in the championship.”
Should they win Urris will play Na Rossa in the
quarter-finals. They beat the same opposition at the
same stage of the competition last year, before losing
to eventual winners Fanad Gaels in the semi-final.
“We had an odd kind of run in the championship last
year,” Friel said, referring to Urris’ reinstatement
after St Naul’s were thrown out for fielding an
ineligible player. “We’ve high hopes for this year too,
but it will all depend on the availability of players
and whether they can stick around during the current
downturn.” |
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