McShea's Say: Joe McQuillen-type bravery in '93 could have seen Donegal retain Sam

If only the referee had the courage that Joe McQuillan showed at half-time in Sunday’s Ulster Club semi-final featuring Newbridge and Scotstown, Donegal and not Derry could have won back-to-back All-Irelands in 1992 and 1993. 

Clones back in 1993 was unplayable and became a lottery, and was in worse condition than Healy Park last Sunday. McQuillan is to be complimented on his correct decision to abandon the game.

Donegal 

Gaelic football is our county’s game, an obsession pervading all strata of society. It is a simple, beautiful, intoxicating sport that transcends all barriers and all borders. 

And nothing beats an All-Ireland final. The hope, the tension, the sense of impending doom and the astonishing loyalty of all supporters. 

Since 2012, we have been willing the men wearing the Donegal jersey to recapture the glory of Sam Maguire. Next year will be the 140th edition of the GAA’s premier inter-county football tournament. 

Thirty-one of our counties will take part, Kilkenny normally don’t play, but London and New York are again expected to compete.

Congress, held in Donegal in July, saw delegates vote to revise the All-Ireland championship structure from next year. 

The format beginning next year will feature 16 teams: the four provincial champions, the four beaten provincial finalists, the 2025 Tailteann Cup winners - Kildare - and they will be joined by the seven best-ranked teams in the league beginning in January. 

League position is based on standing after promotion and relegation are applied, and finals are played. 

This means that the top two teams in Division 2 outrank the bottom two teams in Division 1, and if the second-placed team in Division 2 wins the final, they are ranked above the first place team who lost the final.

What this all means is that League results will be of paramount importance in the new season, and there will be a championship buzz when the All-Ireland champions Kerry arrive in Ballyshannon to play Donegal in the League in early February. 

Donegal’s implosion in this year’s final was difficult to comprehend and more difficult to understand and will provide an early opportunity for them to get two vital league points early in the new campaign.

U-21s

Four Masters and Naomh Conaill again confirmed their credentials as the two best teams at U-21 level in the county by both winning their semi-finals with a bit to spare. 

This final should be a game not to miss with both sides having an array of quality players who will feature on Donegal’s senior team sooner rather than later.

My own club Aodh Ruadh made an excellent choice when the Annual General Meeting saw PJ Buggy appointed as Club President. 

PJ has excelled in every position he held in the club and he managed Ballyshannon to Senior Championship wins in the 80s. A talented footballer and hurler, he represented Donegal in both codes at county minor level.

Poor fare 

After watching what could best be termed a non-event between Ireland and South Africa on Saturday, when Ireland was reduced to playing for a time with 12 rather than 15 men on the pitch, maybe there is now a case of our rugby counterparts looking at some rule changes. 

With tickets for this match costing up to €160, it makes prices for inter-county football and hurling very fair, while the entertainment value on offer in the Aviva would not be in the well-spent category.