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And, of course, Donegal's start to the season. I'm going to catch up with him. Of course, we talked many of the questions that you have from, you know, around GA at the minute. And it's different from his previous tenure with Donegal. And, of course, the year ahead. And his trip around the world, of course, and soccer. And everything that he's brought back now to Donegal. A fascinating chat. I hope you're going to enjoy it as much as I did. I'm here, of course, with Joe Dex producing as ever. He's back again. Good man, Joe. And, of course, he had his board, Ash and Kelly. I want to thank, of course, Sister Sarah's, Karen Brogan and all the crew down there for their ongoing support and everybody who unputs the show. We're going to have a few different guests on this year. Change the format up slightly at times. And that's all coming in the next couple of weeks. I want to say, first of all, well done to John McNulty and the Donegal ladies and their league opener in division two, Wade Elise, a comfortable victory for them in hard fought conditions. Well done to John and the girls. We'll get more updates from the ladies as the few weeks go on from the legs of John and from Maureen O'Donnell. I'd also like to congratulate the Wadi Grahams of Glen. I'm sure you all seen it there yesterday. That was an epic victory. You really took the game. Talk about the jaws of defeat. You know, finals, everyone had backed them to the hull thinking it was a straightforward victory. And, of course, finals rarely are, but they looked down and out and it was an amazing last couple of minutes there to come back and snatch victory. As I say, Jordan is an author and a man that lives up in the area. Michael McMullen will be live from the centre of Mahara later in the show to discuss the game itself and, of course, the bulls around the town. But now, as I said, I went to the lovely town of Chrysler earlier today and I caught up with the man himself, Jim McGinnis. Here's what I have to say. Jim, are you as happy to be back for your second tenure as us Donegal fans are to have you back? What's the feeling? I am. I'm happy, Brendan. Obviously, this week, anyway, started the National League looking forward to it. There's a good old campaign there in terms of the pre-season. I suppose when you're going back in, you know, you're always trying to get to the bottom of a lot of questions, you know, energy levels and, you know, what's in the group and how much do they want it and all that type of thing. And in fairness to the lads, they've been excellent. They've worked really, really hard. We've obviously thrown the net fairly wide in terms of looking for new players and young players and players for the future and players for the present, if you like. And that's been a great success, I think, in terms of looking at the squad and what the squad could be now and what it could be in the future. So very happy with their work rate and their endeavour up to this point. We had a good McKenna Cup campaign. Disappointed in the second half, particularly, I think apart from that, it was quite a good performance in the first half against a very stiff breeze. So, no, we take a lot of positives from that, certainly a lot of positives from the pre-season in general. And we're looking forward now to the start of the National League and this is where, in many respects, where it really, really starts to kick in, you know. Jim, your first tenure in charge of Donegal, 2011, phenomenal four years, you know, the three also championships, the All-Ireland, the second All-Ireland final, that epic semi-final one against Dublin, you know, it was history making stuff. I'm just wondering, from your introduction in 2011, are there any similarities between the start of that tenure on this one or has football completely changed now? I think so, Bren. I think, I suppose, expectation would be one word that would come into my mind. You know, the expectation level at that stage was very low and obviously we're on the back of a very tough run and Donegal at the minute and I suppose the expectation level would be in a similar place or was in a similar place. I think the job is quite similar in that regard. We have to try and find a way, I suppose, to find new players and to bring new people into the fold, build a team, build a style of play and obviously the most important thing is build that confidence that will come with that and hopefully then get to a point, you know, in the not too distant future that we were very, very competitive like I've said many, many times before. You know, there's no guarantees in football, no guarantees in life and if you're in really good shape and you're really tuned in and you're training really hard the only thing that that gives you is the opportunity to be competitive and then you've got to get into an environment where there's a lot of other teams out there that are looking to do all of the same things. So the challenges are the same but I suppose in terms of your question, like my belief system in terms of coming back would have been the same then and that is we always have good football players and sometimes, you know, the key is trying to get the best out of them and I think that is probably one of the most important jobs over the next number of weeks and months is to find a way for them to sort of grow together and the team to grow together, you know, and get scores on the board and be competitive and put ourselves in a position where we're going to Celtic Park in the summer that we can give a good account of ourselves. And it was interesting to, people I think are over-analyzing maybe there's a cup final a bit because if you look back from your last tenure there, there was so much happening, I know the tactic that Donegal brought and in many ways caught a lot of teams out and a lot of teams murdered and copied it years after but there was so many players increased their own abilities substantially, you know, became the very best of what they are and as people look, people are trying to match us up but I think individually and then collectively, you know, you'll bring a huge lift to these guys and on the earth a few new players, I suppose that's the plan. That is, I think the two things run side by side. You have to come up with a plan that's going to fit into their skill set and you have to develop them at an individual level and then you have to develop a team and a style of play and a culture, you know, that's going to sort of hopefully bring the group together. I'm going to say the group I'm talking about because there's a lot of people now that sort of impact you know, on the players that are on the pitch and everybody you know, I always try to have people in and around it that have a very clear specific job in terms of supporting the team and then obviously trying to get them to be in the best position possible to go and do that as you're talking about, go and express themselves and a big part of that is the game plan as well having clarity around things, knowing what your job is knowing what the opposition want to do and how you can impact that and so you know, I think you're probably right there was a lot made of the mechanic up like you know, previously we wouldn't have put the same emphasis on it at all but I think one of the reasons for that was we were very very focused at that time and just working on our fitness because we knew that whenever the league finished we would still have time to get a lot of stuff done whereas this time around because of the split season and the fact that you know, the mechanic up runs into the league and the league runs straight into the championship you know, you have to use that really as a springboard you know, to get your fitness levels up and to get your game plan up because like even going back to them years you were speaking about Brenton you could have had a situation where we say we played Kevin or Derry or whatever it was in the first round of the championship and you might have had one or two fellas maybe a grade one hamstring and a tight hamstring and everything them fellas are probably gone now they're not going to play in the next game whereas previously it was a three week or a four week turnaround to the next game so you could have had you know, your squad and you could have had your team and then chances are you know, bar something pretty you know, on the more serious side they were going to be available for the next game but that's gone and that's why I said you know, you have to cast the net you know, wide you have to try and find as many players as possible you have to try and find as much cover as possible but we're not at that point yet because we're still trying to find out who's the best player for the position but you need two people for every position you really do like and not sort of you know, token you know, tokenism if you like they have to be fellas that can actually step in and play because you know, those turnarounds are much, much less than they were previously and just on that you know, on the last ten you spoke a lot about the journey what a journey you've been on yourself, you know when you left on a goal last, you went to Celtic performance coach you did your coaching badges, you then we got to use your head in the Beijing as assistant coach then you become head coach at Charlotte you know, what a trip you've been on yourself Jim I suppose everybody's wondering how has that impacted your overall coaching now and the trip you're on and what you've learned and how you've grown in terms of now coming back to J That's a good question Brendan because like obviously when I made that decision you know, I knew the road that was ahead of me and it's a very, very long road because all of the things that we would take for granted in a GAA context are things you're learning for the first time so that imposter syndrome is very, very, very high when you're trying to find your feet you're trying to understand the game you're trying to understand how you could train it you're trying to understand tactics you know, all of those things are building and developing over years it does take years and then when you're in like four years, five years, six years you know, and that sort of is your life and it's kind of full time and it's 24 hours a day you know, there is this kind of crossover between your Gaelic back and your soccer background and then there was this kind of sense of everything merging at some stage and then you move across the divide almost you know and then you're always so initially your impulses are so strong towards the GAA because that's all you know and so that part of it has been interesting but coming back has been very easy because them instincts are still there but I do believe there is a lot of things from the soccer point of view as well that now are embedded, if you like, in your thinking so the journey continues in that regard another book? I don't know about another book there will be no book, not now as there's results that's for sure and that's what we want out of this journey we want, you know, like the bottom line is we want to try and put Dunny Gull in a better place and we want to try and strive to move up the ladder and make ourselves competitive again again, sorry, in the provincial championship and then go from there and that's really all we're focused on at the winner, Brendan it's an absolutely phenomenal, fascinating story I don't know many people could take on what you did in that time I think a lot of that is down to not just your coaching your ad-libs but your personality I remember when you first had come up about the Dunny Gull job and people were talking to me and I only knew a bit about your tactical and putt in terms of your philosophy obviously you kept on me at Dunny Gull and you know we had some good times together but personally in a group you're always a great man and I thought then that was going to help you so much and it probably helped you a lot on that journey that you're on but even though you were obviously going there I mean China, the language barrier and how all that worked and then of course Charlotte coming late in and the players and that was a very, very difficult outcome but you just meant about being back here and I just noticed from you when I talked to you after Ross Common how kind of content you were in terms of I'm back now and ready to give Dunny Gull I could see it from you, you're very comfortable in terms of applying again your principles back in the Dunny Gull and I suppose that's the big thing now Jim everybody now after last year's situation we've not been able to find a manager we're very, very lucky to have you back in in terms of what you can bring to Dunny Gull and I think after your next tenure there might be some of those players that you coach in 2012 ready but just at this point there wasn't anybody ready so between the timing of that being right for us in you Jim was it something you always thought you would come back in terms of taking Dunny Gull? Well you know it was one of those ones sort of I suppose just in the comment you made there about sort of seeing that in me in Balyshan of the Ross Common game I firmly believe that if you're going to do something you have to fully, fully focus on it and that's what I am doing now I'm fully focused on this job and fully focused on trying to make it the best possible version of itself and trying to get the most out of them fellas I think that's the only way that's the only way anything can work you know before taking the job and where Dunny Gull where and how I ended up taking it based on where they were you know I just finished me pro license you know so I want to go back there someday too you know and I do want to go back there someday in the future and nobody knows what the future holds obviously and how you might feel you know further on in your life but that's something definitely that I want to revisit sometime in the future and that will be a full focus then and you know and so for now we're here and Dunny Gull are where they are and I now just have to give it absolutely everything and focus every single day in terms of the team and what the team needs and trying like you asked the question earlier there about sort of the similarities the similarities are very similar Brendan there's a lot of gaps and there's a gaps that have to be closed and you have to fill those gaps and sometimes that's about fitness sometimes it's about tactics sometimes it's about culture sometimes it's about you know kick outs whatever it is but there's gaps appear in all the time and the secret is to identify them as quickly as possible and come up with a solution for them and fill that gap and you know we played Derry the last night and you know they looked a million dollars in the second half there but you know they're four years system and style of play and it was nice to be there nice to be on the sideline and see it that close from my own point of view and they're really good at what they do and that's a byproduct of the work that they're doing consistently night after night season after season now and so we're just climbing that ladder now and that's good and we're road testing things as well and there's an unpredictability to some of the things that we're doing at the minute which is fine as well and you know our job is to sort of settle on things you know midway through this league the end of this league and then sort of come up with a plan hopefully that can be impactful in the provincial championship in the summer Tim you just mentioned the start of the league now where we joke about it Ross Commonize says it's a priority to go up uses it if we do go up it was it, if we don't it wasn't but Tim is it important in the evolution of the team in terms of you did it the last time in 2011 we were on about those similarities in terms of coming up to be back in the top flight we've seen the area of course they did a second go at it Division 2 nothing could be taken for granted and so it's going to be a tough league campaign as you're saying Jim I think probably different from last number of years as the top divisions got better it's pushed Division 2 to be better as well and as you said there's a lot of percentages where everybody's trying to gear in that extra yard which maybe years before teams at the top teams have been down from Division 1 generally come up and it too often was a few years calving in Ross Common you'll you'll do that so you had the top six, seven core teams that really didn't go down if they did they come straight up but I think that landscape's changing now particularly the likes of Galway coming back in they had Armagh coming back in it now Derry's back in it so it's really made the top 1 and 2 a lot more competitive than they were going back a number of years ago No I totally agree like I mean we've gone back to Dunny Gall and Sunday and you know they are a team you know probably they're not as far on as Derry but they're definitely a team that has been together for a couple of years now and they're moving up they're moving up the ladder and they showed that last summer in terms of in terms of the performances they put in so that's going to be a very tough not to crack for us you know Armagh is in the division they were in the Ulster final last year you know took the game to penalties against Derry you know you've got me there you've got Kildare there you know so there's there's a lot of really good teams there that we're going to have to contend with but that's good like that's where we want to be you know it's very very important from my own point of view anyway you know that we try to do our absolute best for the people in Dunny Gall particularly them games that are at home we need to make sure that we're on it as best we can on Sunday and put our best foot forward and take the game to Cork and ask as many questions as possible hopefully that's enough to get two points on the board on the first day because it is your first game is a very important game it gives you that platform for the rest of the season and if you can get a positive result in your first day you know your momentum is already building so Cork will be looking at that the exact same way you know they will feel probably coming to Dunny Gall if they can get a good result that that will set them up as well for the next six games so yeah we understand where we're at and we understand that this is a really big game for us and we have to prepare accordingly Jim see the overall philosophy you know you look at everybody now do you got a feeling everybody's playing something similar type game you know they packed their defence, they break at pace, there's a lot of work and kick outs is it something now you see every side kind of has in the round a similar tactic so then it really comes down to like fitness strength composure on the ball and really I suppose maybe then those players that have that real ability maybe they open up the play or they have an out and out talent for scoring they then make the difference between the teams yeah listen I think that that has always been the case in many respects like you know going back you know through decades the team that won the All Ireland you know that was what most people coached the following year you know you're looking at the best product that's out there in that current year people will always look at what they're doing they'll always try to sort of bring those elements into their own group and into their own environment you know the big difference from the last time I was there was the game now is very much about possession and it's hard to get the ball off players now players skill level on the ball you've seen that yourself on Saturday evening with the Dairy lads you know they can take a lot of heat on the ball and still manage to retain it and solo and solo out of situations that wouldn't have been the case 10 years ago, 15 years ago players would probably have coughed that ball up so people are the skill levels in terms of retaining the possession at an individual level have gone higher and then tactics then are impacting as well you know you talk a lot about sort of defensive teams and defensive structures but if you can get your short kick outs away and a lot of teams are doing this Roscommon do it, Dairy do it Dublin do it, once they get that ball in their hand and they're looking for that overload with the goalkeeper in the first third the rest of them are flushing on through and if you don't track them players then you're going to be in a very difficult situation and if you do track them you're in a low block so it's not, I don't actually believe that everybody wants to be in a low block all the time I actually would really disagree with that but tactics, offensive tactics are moving the dial in terms of defensive tactics and I think maybe ten years ago defensive tactics were moving the dial in terms of offensive tactics, people were asking questions and running into difficulties and now people understand the game much better both sides of it and so it's going to take it's going to take shifts in the game again to move that before people start following that again Brent and it will be my take on it and that's why we will always keep an open mind in terms of all that and for me personally like the finger print of our team previously was transitional football and that for me will always be the case and I just love that energy and intensity and that doesn't necessarily come from the defensive structure anymore but most of that transitional football now comes from the opposition's kickouts or your own kickouts and that's why teams are working so hard to make things happen in those two phases of play because it's the moment when the ball is in contest if you decide to make it a contest because sometimes we'll decide we don't want to make it a contest we'll let them have it and they're going to build the play but then you're into the scenario where they've got the ball and if they're good on the ball and they know what they're doing on the ball forward then you're going to be in a difficult spot the whole day so all of them things I think tie into each other in relation to how you want to control the game allowing the opposition to control the game and that's coming down to possession at the minute and that's why we've gone the way we've gone in the early stages of the season so far we've been asking questions of teams to see how we can navigate that not just how you can navigate it but also what's the impact of that is it successful or unsuccessful worth holding on to and I've always believed that you have to have an idea or ideas like previously in the McKenna Cup even 12, 13 and 14 we would always have road tested about five or six concepts from the year previous and maybe one or two of them would stick so we've done the exact same thing this time around but probably with more concepts because you're coming in after a long period of not being there and you need a lot of answers to a lot of questions there'll be less next year but I think it's important to ask those questions I think it's important as a coach as well to be thinking about those things because if you run from 24 to 25 to 26 to 27 it's the same thing you were doing last year you're going to go stale and your players are going to go stale and try to find ways to innovate your own game plan and the last time around our game plan innovated the game that was outside of our control and it's impossible to create the carbon copy anyway it's just impossible not unless you're coaching the exact same way as has been coached it's not going to be the same thing and I think it's going to be a defensive intensity and a transitional game and if you look to what came after that with county teams and club teams I would say it's defensive shape and not defensive intensity and a lack of transitional like when Donegal won the ball last year I would say there was an 80% chance that ball was going to go lateral instead of forward so you get all the bodies back and you aren't in the world but as soon as you win that ball and you go lateral you're allowing the team to go back anyway and that's where I say it's all about your own belief system and how that ties in with the players you have and so yeah all of those types of things are things that are swirling around in your head constantly as you're trying to piece this thing together you know when you have to take the rough with the smooth during that period you know like we had some very good outings in the mechanic cup without overreacting the mechanic cup and then sort of a dose of reality on Saturday evening and that's all good we probably learned more in the second half on Saturday evening than we did in the previous three and a half games very interesting Jim and I think you're responding to some of the criticisms around Donegal and people mirroring them the difference is the transition and as we've seen, we haven't seen graphs where the Dublin team, that brilliant Dublin team were highlighted, basically they're a full team and say the 40, let's say but the transition meant that you didn't notice it because when they broke, they broke with pace like Donegal did and I think that's the difference they've just mirrored the defensive shape without having the attack so soon as they want it they give it to the safe option which was a simple hand pass back or lateral as you said and when what that did allowed the other team to drop in so what you had was two teams that you thought were playing blank at defense but without the quick transition or an attempt to go forward or kick pass the ball you had a real steel mate and then that was thrown back to Donegal, not saying you're copying Donegal but as you said it wasn't a complete copy but yeah, but I think as well Brendan you have to understand who you are yourself you know and if you go back to when we played and historically before that and since that and now, like if you think about Donegal and who Donegal are you know we're probably a top 8 team you know, when we're going well we're a top 4 team when we're not going well, we are where we are now and that's in division 2 and you'd be expected to be maybe in the top 2 and you know in division 2 so you're a top 10, top 8 top 4 when you go that's what we are and so you know there's always those star studded teams that are going to be up there from a Donegal perspective historically the whole way through our history and so we have to understand that we are a team that's fighting that adversity and fighting that challenge and that was the reason we did what we did we had to climb that ladder and we're in the exact same situation now we have to climb that ladder and for Donegal success in the long term would be that sort of consistency of top 4 or top 3 or top 2 but that's history has shown us that's almost impossible that's almost impossible because of the carries and so forth of this world so we have to understand where we are and that then filters into what you need to do you know the teams at the bottom of the Premier League play Man City and Liverpool and these teams differently than they play each other that's the reality because they know who they are and equally Man City make 800 passes in a game because they know who they are they know they're the best with the best players and the best structure and the best support systems and the most money so they play the game a different way and they see the game a different way and those other lads at the bottom if they don't do what they do they don't win and the interesting thing in the last 10 years is the things that we were doing 10 years ago are the things that the top teams do now because they have to win because they have to win and so now it's up to the bottom tier and like there's a top tier in my opinion at the minute and you could put dairy and Dublin and Kerry into that and there's another tier then your Mayows and your Galways and so on and so forth and then there's another tier and we're in that third tier at the minute so we have to find a way to get from tier 3 to tier 2 before we can start thinking about tier 1 and that is the reality and I think too much is made about sort of the impact the reason I think Donegal had such an impact on the game the last time around was there was like a light bulb moment that well if they can do it and there historically that top 8, top 10 team then maybe we can do it as well and that's why so many people latched onto it and so that doesn't change anything from our point of view we are still historically we are where we are and at the minute it's not tier 2, it's tier 3 to find a way to come again build a team and build a group and try to climb that ladder and that's not going to be easy because the dial has moved and you know so much has gone into every single aspect and so many teams now are so tactically savvy it's not going to be an easy task and that's what you get up in the morning for that's what's enjoyable about it just you mentioned there previous about players fitness and keeping everybody how do you juggle the whole season now because it's different from the last time you're here particularly with the group stage as a championship and my question is 2 fold you have McKenna copy of the league, you have Ulster and then you have the group stage as a championship is in many ways the group stage the championship in terms of success is does Ulster handicap the Ulster teams can handle it and how do you keep the Donegal side between that extra training you want to put in and the freshness and the whole season in general yeah listen Ulster has always been handicapped you know that's the reality like you know you have other counties in other provinces that just slide straight into a provincial final and then that sets them up you know for the next big that has always been the case but equally you know those counties don't celebrate a provincial championship the way we do and that's the trade off and so yeah like it'll never ever change for me Brendan you know spent my whole life trying to won a provincial championship you know and so did you and lots of others that never managed it still haunts me yeah exactly you know and loads more and brilliant teams and the reason for that was it was so bloody hard to won it that's the reason for it and so you know from our point of view you can sort of have a moan about that it doesn't impact anything you know there's always going to be two championships in my opinion you know we've cast the net wide in the mechanic up and we've looked at lots of things and lots of people only with the view of trying to narrow things down and get more focused in the national league and that will only be used to narrow it down even more and the lead into that dairy game and then the number one thing for us is Celtic Park because it will never ever change my thought process you know I remember us playing in a mechanic cup game, a railway cup game and playing in railway cup games previous to that with you know with Noel Higgard and Mark McHugh and Yedantley Toll and Henry Downey and James McCartney and all these lads like and there were brilliant games and brilliant players like and that competition was talked down by every single person that had a microphone that competition was talked down into oblivion and there's a lot of people in the GEA that are hell bent and talking down the provincial championships even though the provincial championship in Ulster there's no change on it still the exact same thing that it always was but people's perception of it and people not taking it seriously and people focusing on the All Ireland and you absolute nonsense you know a paper doesn't sort of reneg ink and conversations you know in podcasts but the bottom line is for us it will always be the number one competition and whenever we're out of that competition the next one will be the number one competition there's two competitions every single year in terms of championship football and you focus on the first one first and you focus on the second one second and that is absolutely it and so for us everything from the very first training session to that ball being thrown in in Celtic Park is focused on that moment nothing else nothing else and we will obviously be going out to one as many games as we can in Division 2 and you're trying to get promotion and you're trying to keep the wheel turning and build the positivity and get up and play at a higher level the next year but the only reason you're trying to do that is to be in a better place to be playing better teams so you're better positioned for the Ulster championship you know so you have to have that context all the time you know when you're making decisions at this time of the year what works and what doesn't work and who's available and who's not and who's fit enough and who's not and sometimes fellas have to play to put them in the right spot for that game down the thing and today or Sunday could be impacted but you're not thinking about that you're thinking about that sunny day when the referee reaches for the ball and throws it up into this guy that's all you're thinking about and I know you're going to revel in this deri game Jim and finally question this and the insights have been phenomenal they really really enjoyed it Jim in terms of success going in this season I know it's year one there's so many things to be done you have the mechanic copy of the league I'm just gauging from talking to you there you're not thinking about the group stage of the championship at all you're thinking about Ulster and whatever happens after that happens but your total focus is on getting through the league now in terms of if we come up hopefully we do but again getting players and getting players' mindset right getting your tactics in place and then it's all about Celtic Park in the start of the championship yeah the group stage is the All Ireland league so you don't even know who you're playing do you know what I mean you can't be there anybody to be disrespectful to the other competition so we will work hard in the national league to make sure we're putting ourselves in the best spot possible we also know after Saturday night seeing Deri up close and personal that that's going to be a huge task they are you know a finely tuned machine at the minute with huge belief in themselves and that's a really good combination you know and that's what we want to strive for and we have to close that gap as much as we can between now and then to make that game as competitive as possible and if we were somehow managed to get over that game then you know who you're going to get in the next one so that's all it is Brinn it's just that full focus on today with that picture in the back of your mind that we need all of these guys to be in the right spot as it may be 12 or 13 weeks this weekend you know Jimmy McGinnis thanks very much for joining us in the day of debate always a pleasure thank you Brinnis stop from Jimmy McGinnis really enjoyed that take some great insights and I'm sure as the season goes on we'll get some more words from Jim it was brilliant to get down there and chat with him today really enjoyed it I think you know he really opened up in terms of what he thinks football is at now and I think the difference in the way sides are well in the play and it was I suppose it was pointing the way Derry you know we're looking at a side like Derry back to back also champions but they're still well in the play that really rigid percentage game and he's talking about climbing up the ladder and how difficult that is now and you can tell from how he's talking there the hours and hours the input the analysis, the planning the tactics to get the Dunnegal to climb this ladder but certainly we look forward now to this week and it's Cork and McCool Park hopefully the one settles a bit get everybody out there in support it matters so much to the team the big Dunnegal support and we've already seen it in the McKenna Cup so far so that's Jim McGinnis's tale Michael McMullan who is live at Mahara and all the celebrations that are going on there we'll be speaking to Michael just after this break the DL debate with sister Sarah's letter Kenny serving food you'll love till 9pm daily in Sarah's kitchen and there's free admission entertainment every weekend Hi folks, Paul McDevitt here inviting to join myself and Jimmy Stafford this Monday night for another edition of the Monday Night Sessions on the show this week the annual anniversary show in the Ballard Theatre we welcome the legendary Mainbenders letter Kenny and district pipe band will also be joining us to tell us all about their upcoming Morn's Night celebrations and of course playing a few tunes 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Check out ShaneconnellyCars.com or call into us at Shane Connelly Cars from London Road, Donegal Town The DL Debate with sister Sarah's letter Kenny serving food you'll love till 9pm daily in Sarah's kitchen and there's free admission entertainment every weekend What a story indeed from the weekend we had all Ireland club finals the whatty grams of Glen went in search after their heart breaking defeat last season to kill McCulloch Croakes in a bit of controversy they already accounted for them in the semi-final and a little bit of them were expecting a straight forward victory I wouldn't say straight forward but they were huge favourites getting into the game I have a man up here now that knows a bit about them and the area and he's going to talk to us live from Mahara Michael McMullen, how are you sir? Brendan, the forum is very good Mahara is absolutely buzzing two degrees the famous Monday club band that everybody in Ireland knows about are playing and the homecoming has been in gone on the back of a lorry James McFerrin, Andy Merrigan and John McDoughlin and playing our champion Big Night Three big names there are three big trophies indeed what a few years I texted earlier and you said I'm going to be in the middle of town and I said that's great because it gives you a bit of atmosphere and a bit of hype for what's happening there what a few years people talking about some of the powerhouses of Ulster and coming through and how long it takes in that from Glen there, from the phenomenal on the Rage and the breakthroughs and now to be at the pinnacle of club football have you ever seen a story like that in all your time? Well it's definitely a fast growth sprint in like 2013 they were relegated they didn't win the intermediate championship they obviously dominated minor football and actually in the middle of the naughties there was a couple of years where they couldn't actually feel the minor team I was told last night so that's where they came from it makes a story even more seismic than it actually is but to have won three Dairy Championships to Ulster Donald Ireland was Kylku after extra time who won the All-Ireland and Kilmakod obviously in the final are the only two teams to have beaten them under Malachy's tenure in championship that's an amazing statistic that's amazing consistency and I suppose there's no coincidence that Andy Merrigan cups in the hall behind me here Yes, yes indeed and Michael, good on the game of course you know after the victory over Kilmakod you've seen Malachy Road getting the players a little quick and being very conscious of getting the head down and getting ready for the final of course Brigid's coming over Castle Haven not playing well in the second half and almost everybody Malachy thought that over the course of the game that Glen would have more firepower be better just all round team and they would kind of I'm not saying comfortable of course a final but they thought they would in some way control the game enough to see it out and the game was anything like that I mean you had to be impressed by what Brigid's brought to the game Definitely I'm and Brendan if you're talking about Glen it was probably the most on Glen like performance like chatting to some of the fans on the Apple Green on the way down and even in around Mars they were so so nervous Brendan because they were favourites you could sense that they were nervous but I would sort of say to them look use our team that are good at playing with the ball regardless of the conditions like it was difficult but they were the exact opposite they were giving the ball away they were kicking it over the side lane and when it was coming back Ben O'Carroll had an acre of room to do damage and it was worrying for them and the problem, the other problem was at any time when up the pitch they were much firing and it's not a it's not a good combination Yes, yes, you always felt there was passages of play though Michael where Glen really controlled the ball but as you say they were snatching the chances and hitting from long range and you know some subs were coming on having a goal probably at the wrong time particularly when they needed to eat under that four point deficit and the camera span around to Maliki Rourke a few times and I thought God it just doesn't seem to be happening you know in the pivotal moments then we had a course well the glass come with the air come with the man scenario but what you're feeling on that goal in terms of the keeper coming out the positioning obviously lost his bearings and a lot of things led there but certainly glass kept house cool and that that I think there was never I don't think points were going to be enough possibly you could say they may have got to a draw point but even it looked difficult and unlikely but certainly a goal was needed and glass conjured up a wonder goal They definitely weren't going up one up without that goal you know and as we saw in the minutes after that sure it was a last-minute free it was missed so they needed that goal and as you say the goal he was out of position and he just went for it he actually said in his interview that he just had to go for it like this time last year he had a snapshot Connor first saves it and it's kill McCoddy you're all there in champions and I was interviewed here in Flanagan afterwards and he actually said he was behind glass when he took the shot and he sort of thought look there's only one place this is going here and but you know it just capped off everything that he did like whenever they were struggling in the first half he made three interceptions that unseen work that he does and probably a lot of people don't actually see it he scored a point with his left foot when they needed to score he went for absolutely everything in the middle he slammed over a 45 and then as you say that goal what a performance you know there's absolutely nothing else he could have done in his whole area yesterday there would have been probably a ten performance of such a thing well I suppose you looked at the first half there was a couple of really last ditch blocks you always get to feel in a cool park it is a forwards type pitch I mean you've played like Ben O'Carlin nipping round changing runs I was really impressed with some of the movement of Bridgets but again for every movement there seemed to be a last minute a ditch block there was some phenomenal blocking by Glane right up until the end of the game remember I think it was O'Carlin as well there was a brilliant block down you know there was some heroic efforts from their defence to I suppose that made up for a lot of the misses from the forwards yeah that one you're talking about well turning funding had been one and the one you're talking about Brenton it was Cattleman Holland who had spent ten minutes in the send-in probably you can imagine his whole career was probably going through his head in those ten minutes about have a miss my chance and when he went on I think correct me if I'm wrong here it may have been level or Glane may have been one of I can't remember but you know that block was another dose of energy and another thing that sort of sticks out with me when you're talking about those chances was after Glane's goal he's already took possession and where most of the game he's bottled up he just seemed to have a completely different level of energy after the goal and he just got that feeling even from that run that there's only going to be one winner I felt that run alone typified it I thought and just at that point with the black yard and the four points up on that and we see this all the time was it Glane was enforcing them so because I thought they were anyway and Bridges look to sit and probably thought to tag on one or two it's just when they broke forward and they seem to be very isolated and it seemed that Glamour just building up this head of steam you know they were they couldn't get the scores that they needed to pull it back and points up in the glasses goal but you really sent I think they really feel a champions maybe maybe the Bridges didn't have in that vital moment to maybe get possession and work it up the pitch it seemed to be very much a breakout on their own along the line they would turn over possession and Glamour would build again that's probably bang on it would be interesting to ask Bridges their view on that because as you say it was isolated and when it went up Ryan Duggan put in an unbelievable second half performance on O'Carroll he made a turn over he used that word isolated he used it he made a turn over onto the scoreboard and you know one of those ones where you roar and fist pump when you do it we're looking up at the scoreboard and thinking there's still time and some Bridges haven't pulled away yet so and Glam seem to be happy enough to think we're going to put Duggan back on O'Carroll and we're chasing this game it's up to every other person to just go for it you know is there any point in being beat by four points of me as well we beat the 44 as opposed to not go for yeah listen Mal what a story and I think the whole country is captured and I suppose the drama then that led there particularly after the defeat last year third year in a row a team has come back from losing the final to won it I suppose Bridges can take that as a as a consolation we mainly see what they come with next year but Mal listen just from all us here in Dunnegoges when it wishes well done you have a great night up there in Mahara and make sure you don't have to work early the morning never miss a day's work Brent never haha my man for plenty of your legend Mal listen thanks so much for that update this evening and as I say enjoy the celebrations thanks Brent as ever great man up in Mahara folks that's the end of the show hope you enjoyed it Jimmy's interview true to exposition here of course Michael McMallan you just heard there head of sport Oshin Killian as I say sister Sharers and everyone for support in the show we're playing Cork next week we'll be back to review it and all the other GA news of the week we'll talk to them and we'll debate with sister Sharers Lether County