When Mervyn O’Donnell assesses Gaoth Dobhair’s 2017, he uses the word ‘clueless’ – however, the Gaoth Dobhair boss says they’ve learned valuable lessons from last term.
Gaoth Dobhair blew a six-point lead against Naomh Conaill in a semi-final last year. They face the same opponents on Sunday, in the 2018 final.
“We realised we were clueless to a certain degree about the latter stages of the Championship,” O’Donnell says.
“We learned a lot from that game last year.
“We’re a step further than last year and that’s progress. We’re in a good place. We had a very good squad this year. We have a lot of quality players. Training didn’t dip all year and everything was in place when the county boys came back in. They bought into everything.”
O’Donnell’s appointed raised eyebrows at the outset of last year. A former underage manager at Magheragallon, he admits it was a daunting task.
“They all got behind me from day one,” he said.
“I didn’t have a lot of experience. I came from managing an under-12 team up to minor. The senior dressing room is a daunting place for anyone to be in. It really is.”
Listen to the full interview below …