The Dungloe men's senior footballers play St. Michael's in the Donegal SFC semi-final on Sunday.
By John Harrington
Sustained hard work by CLG An Clochán Liath over a number of years to develop all codes will get some satisfying reward this Sunday.
Their ladies football team will contest the Donegal Intermediate Final at 11.45am against Ardara in O’Donnell Park and afterwards a convoy of cars will make its way from there to Ballybofey for the men’s senior football semi-final against St. Michael’s.
Dungloe’s story has been one of sustained progress in recent years. The ladies football team won the Donegal Junior Championship last year, the men were Donegal Intermediate football champions in 2022, and both hurling and camogie are also going from strength to strength in the club.
“There's a lot of hard work being put in by good, honest individuals,” says Dungloe Club Chairperson, Paddy McGowan.
“We have teams at every underage level in every code right up to senior now and there’s a great buzz in the club.
“We’ve also been developing a second pitch behind our own pitch and that’s almost completed now. It would top off a nice year if our ladies footballers could win a county title and our men’s footballers could reach a county final for the first time in 60 years.”
What’s rare is wonderful, and Sunday’s Donegal SFC semi-final against St. Michael’s is the sort of opportunity that Dungloe are unaccustomed to.
It’s their first senior football semi-final in 12 years, and, as McGowan alluded to, they haven’t reached a county final since 1964 or won one since 1958.
They’re here courtesy of a superb quarter-final display when they defeated Michael Murphy’s Glenswilly team who were hotly fancied by most going into the game.
“It was a serious performance,” says McGowan. “We go two quick goals that settled us down and they played the way they can play then.
“Glenswilly obviously then came back at us which we would have expected but our boys showed great resilience. They hit four points on the bounce before Glenswilly came back at us again but ran out of time. There was only one point in it at the end.
“Be under no illusions, we’ve a good team. They've been together for a few years now. They lost a county intermediate final and then came back the next year (2022) and won it.
“They got to the preliminary quarter-finals of the senior championship last year. It's the same group of players and they've been building steadily and training hard. I'm not shocked. And I wouldn't be shocked if they won on Sunday as well.”
Dungloe GAA club's development of a second pitch is close to completion.
This Dungloe team is the product of sustained hard work at coaching and development in the club that has produced a very talented generation of players.
They’re a ferociously hard-working unit that’s very well coached by manager Dessie Gallagher, and it looks like they’re now really coming into their prime.
“We won a county U-16 title in 2016 and we won an U-14 title in 2018 and the nucleus of those two teams is there now in the senior panel,” says McGowan.
“It takes a wee while for boys to find their feet at senior level but they have now. Those young lads have developed well. They've put a serious emphasis on their strength and conditioning and they're reaping the rewards of it.
“A lot of people are talking about their physicality in the tackle and on the ball, and that's something that maybe wasn't there a few years ago when they lose that Intermediate Final. So to see these lads develop like they have has been great to watch, they're fine young men now.
"I'd say the average age is 24/25. They're coming at the right time. This would be massive for us if we could make the breakthrough and get to the county final.The place would just go mad.
“I think it could hold the club well for the next 10 or 15 years if we could do it. And if we could get to a county final then anything is possible.”
