Nigel McMonagle a driving force for Donegal’s All-Ireland Masters success

Success in Gaelic football in Moville is rare with just a couple of junior championship titles to their name but one of their footballers created his own little bit of history on Saturday by picking up the man of the match award in the All-Ireland Masters Plate final in Kingspan Breffni Park.

The choice for man of the match of Nigel McMonagle was an easy one as he was the standout player on  the field as Donegal overcame London by 0-12 to 0-5. With Donegal struggling to get into the game, it was McMonagle who won the free for Damien Browne to hit their first point.

From there to the finish McMonagle covered every blade of grass and the recurring theme was the Moville man in full flight with London players floundering in his slipstream.

When London scored in the second half, each time almost immediately McMonagle popped up to point and cancel any faint hope of a comeback.

The Moville man was a number of players who were in their debut year at Masters football and he certainly has made his mark.

“This is my first year and we started training at the end of February.” When put to him that he looked like a 21-year-old out on the field, he replied: “I don’t know about that. The legs will say different for the next couple of days. There is still a wee bit of pace there. It’ll be going soon so I better use it while I have it,” he laughs.

But it did seem as he was enjoying his football. “I suppose when you hit 40 it’s not getting easier playing club football any more, running after 20 year-olds. It is good to have something around your own age and still competitive.

“It’s good today to get out playing with boys you played with all year and there’s something at the end of it.”

Success for McMonagle at club level was a junior title in 2009 and losing three finals, two against Downings and he was a sub last year in the junior final loss to Na Rossa. So Saturday’s success was pretty special.

McMonagle said that at a young age most of his time was taken up with soccer. “We’re a junior club, up and down to Intermediate over the years. Titles were hard to come by. I would have been up for underage trials at county level but for many years I was soccer first.

“When I was younger I would have played a lot of soccer at different levels. That was the main thing for me when I was younger.”

But now McMonagle is an All-Ireland winner. “It took until I was 40 but I’ll take it,” he says laughing.

And there has been the bonus of playing in some well-known grounds, another first for McMonagle. “Yeah, I was just saying to the boys there. We have played in the Tyrone Centre of Excellence, in Clones and now in Breffni Park. They are good pitches and it’s good to get to play and see what they are like. One thing, they are big fields,” says McMonagle.

Saturday was another big day for Donegal Masters but it was also a day to remember for Nigel McMonagle and the Moville club.

Nigel McMonagle with his son Rian and the man of the match award after the game