'St Eunan's are favourites but they won't take Gaoth Dobhair for granted' - Gildea

John Gildea says that St Eunan’s will take nothing for granted in their semi-final tussle even despite their elimination of SFC holders Naomh Conaill.  

Last weekend saw a series of upsets at the quarter-final stages where Gildea’s old Glenties side and championship stalwarts Glenswilly and Kilcar were all eliminated from the competition.  

And with one of two teams in St Michael’s and Dungloe, who have come in under the radar this season, guaranteed a spot in the decider, it leaves it open for an exciting final few weeks, which Gildea says is only good for Donegal football.   

“People will say that we have an open championship now that Naomh Conaill is gone and that’s true in one sense,” he said.  

“But at the start of the season, we all said that the championship was always going to be decided between them and St Eunan’s.  

“And we would all still be backing St Eunan’s to win it. But it’s going to be a different type of final in that we’re going to have either a team that hasn’t been there in 13 years, which is St Michael’s, or a team that hasn’t been in a final for 60 years in Dungloe.  

“So that’s great for those communities. And then you have Gaoth Dobhair - who are in no way going to be walked over by St Eunan’s and will definitely put it up to them.  

“But at the minute all the talk is about Eunan’s winning the championship so we’ll just have to see how that plays out this weekend.”  

With Dungloe having stunned Glenswilly and St Michael’s coming from seven points down to shock Kilcar, Gildea says their semi-final meeting on Sunday will become even more intriguing if Gaoth Dobhair can pull off the upset the evening prior in Ballybofey. 

“I think what adds to these matches is that you have four teams that all won quarter-finals that they probably weren’t supposed to win and that’s why we now have two exciting games this weekend.  

“I think St Michael’s beating what was still a seasoned enough Kilcar was perhaps the shock of the championship really.  

“But credit has to go to Michael’s because they showed a lot of heart and never gave up, even when they had their backs to the wall.  

“And Dungloe are in exactly the same place too. I mean Glenswilly were firm favourites to beat Dungloe but they went into that game very organised, and structured and they brought a level of physicality to the game, and they know what they can produce on the field.  

“So, from a neutral point of view, it’s just great that we’re going into the semi-final stages of the championship and we have four teams who genuinely feel that they are capable of getting to a final”.  

He added: “We then have the question of whether Michael Langan will be back or not this weekend.  

“So, it’s more than just a standard semi-final stage, there’s loads of subplots that are gathering interest and that’s great to see from a Donegal football perspective.”  

However, the former county player still has that gut feeling that St Eunan’s will prevail but despite St Michael’s already beating top sides like Gaoth Dobhair and Kilcar, he is not ruling out a Dungloe upset as they look to book their first county final spot since 1964.  

“I suspect both games will be very close but I still feel that St Eunan’s are that bit ahead of Gaoth Dobhair,” he said.  

“While in the other semi-final, St Michael’s will take great confidence having already beat Kilcar and Gaoth Dobhair this season and have come a harder route to get here, but for some suspicion, I just have a little feeling that Dungloe might grind out a result.”