Naomh Eanna play in their first ever Wexford senior final on Sunday.
In 2015, they won the intermediate title and this year they’ve progressed even further.
He’d been in underage finals the whole way up along and despite winning at under-12, he went on to lose finals at under-14, 16, minor and under-21 level.
That dodgy record in finals doesn’t bode well for this Sunday, this Naomh Eanna team dominated by McDonald’s peers, but they should’t be written off.
That’s because this year has been a little bit different for the club who won an intermediate football championship last weekend and have history beckoning this weekend.
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— Official Naomh Éanna (@NaomhEannaGAA) October 7, 2018
Their semi-final against Oylegate-Glenbrien was their first last four appearance in 33 years in the Model County’s top competition. They weren’t there to make up the numbers this time around, they won that game by four points.
They’re underdogs taking on champs St Martin’s in Sunday’s decider, but they’ve plenty of confidence built up and they’ll be going into it with high hopes.
“So the town is going a little bit mental at the moment. It’s more excitement than anything, everyone is just raring to go so hopefully it goes well for us,” said McDonald.
“I’d say probably in the last ten years the club has really focused on the underage and our team is quite young at the minute. We probably have three players over 30, I would say.
“Our goalkeeper, corner-back, and full-back are probably 30 or in and around. Other than that it’s probably 24 and down. So, yeah, I suppose it’s been a big drive at underage over the last 10 years,” he said.
That drive at underage level is coming to fruition now and those young men would love to do it for those who have soldiered before them in the green and white of Naomh Eanna.
Men like Billy Byrne and Ger Cushe. Gorey legends. Wexford legends.
“Massive. It would be massive. To see them achieve so much on a county scale, I suppose it’s kind of surreal to watch them looking at us training and going into a senior county final and they’ve never been in one.”
And the club stalwarts too who devote their lives to this club.
“For the likes of those people as well it’s obviously an incentive to try to do it for them as well as the elder people who might not have been on county teams or stuff like that but have put their heart and soul into the club for years,” he said.
“You’d love to give back to them in some way, that the first one was a victorious one.”
One man Gorey may be without this Sunday is county star Cathal Dunbar. He got red carded in the semi for a seemingly innocuous incident, and McDonald pleads with the powers that be to let him play.
“Listen, I’m all for playing by the rules, but obviously I’m a little bit biased…I think Cathal’s record stands for itself. I don’t think he’s even ever gotten a yellow card, never mind a red-card,” he said.
Dunbar’s appeal was again rejected on Thursday night, so now Gorey are going to the Croke Park DRA in a desperate bid.
He’s over all of those underage final losses and so are Naomh Eanna, but a Wexford senior title would really cap their rise.
“I think I’ve only one county medal, U-12. We got to every single county final every year but the Rapparees, Liam Ryan and Kevin Foley’s club, beat us every single year.
“They have every underage medal and I have one of them,” he laughs.
Time will tell if those wrongs will be righted on Sunday.
