All-Ireland final now awaits McAteer and his U-14 Donegal side

The Donegal U-14s will play in the All-Ireland final against Offaly in two weeks time after overcoming Clare in the Silver semi-final last weekend.  

Team manager Aidan McAteer praised his side for coming back strong during extra time in a 2-14 to 2-9 victory over the Ennis side in Carrigallen after not getting off to the best of starts in the match.   

“We were happy to come away with the win, it was brilliant to be honest considering we didn’t play well in the first half,” the Gaeil Fhánada man said. “We conceded 1-6 in the first 20 minutes, and we only hit over a point in that time, so we were worried it was going to be a long day.  

“Now to be fair the wind was a massive factor and of course, there would’ve been an element of nerves with it being a semi-final, but we fought back. We were eight points down with 15 minutes to go and we then brought that back to two points.”  

With time running out and Clare not budging from their lead, it took Four Masters player Megan Gallagher to kick five points in the dying minutes to send the game into extra-time.  

“We were unlucky to concede a goal with five minutes to go to make it a five-point margin then, but then Megan Gallagher from Four Masters hit five points in that period of time to bring the game to extra-time,” the Donegal boss said.  

“It was unbelievable, her final kick of the game was a free from 35 yards out . . . we actually thought she would play the kick short, but she took on the responsibility herself, and fair play to her.  

“It was a mad period of the game, but Megan is very talented and very confident, we couldn’t believe she took on the kick, fair play to her.”  

With the scoreline standing at 2-7 to 1-10 after full time, Clare regained the lead as the bodies began to tire, with the Ennis side leading by a point during the interval of extra-time. But a second goal from the green and gold side in the final few minutes was enough to see Donegal advance to the U-14 decider.   

“Extra time was tight. To be fair, Clare was an excellent team and was constantly putting it up to us. I think we were losing by one at the break, but Clare had a good number of chances, they hit the crossbar at one point, and we were very solid in defense, but once Kerri Gavigan got the goal in the second period of extra time, we knew we had it won then.  

The U-14s will now play Offaly on Saturday, June 8 in the All-Ireland final in Carrigallen, something McAteer and his side are really looking forward to.  

“To get to a final is great, we have a lot of work and a lot of help going on behind the scenes in the LGFA, but great credit has to go to the players too. They’ve been training since November and working hard. Some of the players have been on the road since last June, so it’s tough going and I’m happy they’re getting the recognition they deserve,” he said.