When the county minors added to Donegal GAA's 'manic season' in 2014

The fact that Donegal has only reached one All-Ireland minor final in the association’s history perhaps adds prestige to the fact that it occurred 10 years ago this week. 

Facing a Kerry underage structure, then under current senior boss Jack O’Connor, that would go on to win five minor All-Irelands in-a-row before even the arrival of David Clifford to the scene, Donegal, under manager Declan Bonner fought a gallant battle before eventually losing out on a 0-17 to 1-10 scoreline that September day in Croke Park. 

The ‘where are they now’ chapter of that Donegal squad can be withheld until the next round anniversary, with many of the young stars at the time, now in their late 20s, still playing for club and county, while others have drifted further afield. 

One such man who has found greener pastures in the land ‘Down Under’ is Lorcan Connor, the Downings man who served as the team’s half-forward and lit up scoreboards with superb free kicking. 

Since the start of the year, the 28-year-old has been residing in Sydney, where he currently works in finance and plays GAA for local team Penrith Gaels where there’s a strong Donegal connection. 

“You would miss Donegal at times, I think you might miss it a bit more this time of year when the football championship is up and running,” Connor told Donegal Live.  

“I’ve been playing football for Penrith Gaels this season and we were unfortunate to lose by a point in the championship final about two months ago. 

Thinking back 10 years Connor acknowledges the unique achievement that was achieved during a ‘football mad’ time in Donegal that saw both the minors and seniors line out for their respective All-Ireland deciders on the one day. 

“It doesn’t feel like that season was 10 years ago, to be honest, you would nearly forget about it only for the fact that social media gives you a reminder every year, but still, it’s hard to believe that it’s scrapping up on 10 years,” he said. 

“I think a lot of the lads are either away or some are still back home playing, so it we might have to wait another 10 or 20 years before we get together and if anyone wants to organise anything. 

“You’d still be in touch with a good few of the boys on that team which is great, or you might bump into a few randomly every now and then. 

“Funnily enough I’ve even met a few of the lads down here in Australia since I moved here. When we were playing in the Melbourne Sevens back in March, I ran into Ethan O’Donnell who was on that minor team with myself. 

“I play club football here with Penrith Gaels and Adam Neilly from Dungloe played on the same team before moving back to Ireland in the summer, and he was also a part of the squad in 2014, so you do bump into the lads every now and again and it’s always good to chat with them.” 

Losing a national final might be a memory that many players wish not to revisit, and while Connor doesn’t go into the intricacies of the games, his memory of the successful occasions before and after such matches is something that stands out to him most. 

He also pinpoints to such hype with the fact that Declan Bonner’s minor side would play their matches before Jim McGuinness’s senior team. And that experience of playing in front of a big crowd as the curtain raiser is something in that Connor feels current underage teams miss out on. 

“I feel a bit sorry for the minor teams now who don’t get to experience that big day out before the senior game,” he said. 

“That was massive for us because there was such a crazy mood for the senior team after 2012, and in 2014, we were just shadowing them every step of the way. It was a manic time, but the real added bonus for us was that the seniors were doing well.  

“If the ground was 50 percent full for the start of our games, it was definitely packed for the last 10 minutes when people were packing in for the senior matches. 

“I remember after the minors and the seniors won Ulster that year, we had great fun in Donegal Town that night for the homecoming. We went up onto the stage with the seniors and then after hours, we got to hang onto the coattails of the senior boys and we all ended up in a private room in the Abbey Hotel . . . it was just great times.” 

After winning Ulster, Donegal saw themselves past Roscommon and Dublin, before facing Kerry on the third Sunday of September, a day when Bonner’s team created history as the first U-18 team in the national decider. 

“We knew we were the first minor team from Donegal to play in an All-Ireland final, but I certainly didn’t think too much into that, and speaking to lads since I don’t think anyone that day got too overwhelmed by the occasion,” Connor said. 

“It also shows the difference in that the season, in that it went the full length of the summer and there were probably three weeks between every game, so you had plenty of training leading into it. 

“Especially at that time, a lot of us lads were after finishing school and all we really knew was football, but then we had to start college that September, and I remember putting that in the back of my mind.  

“I think I even missed my first week or two of college because I was at home training. I think I went up for my first day at Jordanstown but then missed the first week or two after that because everything was second fiddle to us at that time.”