Ronan McDermott just relieved as Burt edge through to SHC decider

Ronan McDermott said Burt are just relieved to be back in the Donegal SHC final after their draw with St Eunan’s on Friday night. 

His battle with St Eunan’s full-back Conor O’Grady was one of the real highlights in a terrific tussle at Hibernian Park.

And McDermott grabbed the all-important goal and also hit two points in a game that ended in a draw on a score of Burt 1-13 St Eunan’s 0-16.

But McDermott was just relieved that his team has earned a county final slot after a poor display against Setanta the previous week.

“We needed a good display after last weekend as we just did not function in the second half,” he told DonegalLive. 

“So we worked on getting as good a start as possible and thankfully that worked out for us.”

Burt moved into a 1-4 to 0-1 lead after just ten minutes, playing into the breeze, which gave them a good early platform.

By the break referee Trevor Maloney had it 1-7 to 0-10 but, controversially, all three reporters present at the ground and many of the spectators along the perimeter had it 1-8 to 0-9 in Burt’s favour. 

“We knew it was going to go right down to the wire. And we knew there was a bit of confusion about the score at half-time but we can only concentrate on what is in front of us.”

When asked if it put Burt under any extra pressure as many in the ground felt they had two points less than they actually scored, he said: “You just have to forget about all that and in the end a draw was probably a fair result”.

Burt now renew acquaintances with champions Setanta and McDermott knows his side will be huge underdogs in that tussle with the Cross men. 

“It was always our aim to get back to a county final ever since the start of the year and it is great to be in one again.

“We got a good rebound from last week and the players stood up well and it was a good performance all round.

“There were some heavy but fair hits and in fairness Trevor Maloney let the game go and it helped make it a great spectacle.

“We hung in there and now we have a few weeks to prepare for the county final. And there is a lot of excitement about that as we haven’t won one since 2018.”