By Ciaran Gallagher

After 24 years of waiting, Ryan McHugh was not too pushed about how Kilcar’s first Donegal SFC final victory since 1993 may have looked.

In the end, Barry Doherty’s side edged out a stubborn three-point win, defeating Naomh Conaill by just 0-7 to 0-4, in a game that most certainly lacked an aesthetically-appealing quality.

The naysayers may have been out in force afterwards, but McHugh and his Kilcar club-mates were too busy celebrating a long-awaited success to listen as the likes of defender Michael Hegarty finally claimed a senior county medal after more than two decades of trying.

“To be honest with you, the celebrations were that big I didn’t really see [any criticism/>,” McHugh laughs. “I try to stay off Twitter and Facebook and these things, I didn’t really buy much papers during the week. That’s just the way it is. We played great last year and I didn’t buy the papers either, so it’s just the way I am!

“You know you want to go out and win as best you can. It probably wasn't the most pretty spectacle for the neutrals or for anyone at the game…but it’s been a long, long wait. Last year we were playing unbelievable football and we lost the final, so we just wanted to get over the line.

“We are a small wee community and it was great to see the scenes on the pitch and back in Kilcar after the game. It was just phenomenal.”

Former Donegal forward Manus Boyle may have lambasted the style of football on show, telling the Irish News that “football is dying in front of us”, but McHugh pointed to last year’s clash between the same sides as an example to prove that football in the county is not in a toxic state.

“The final wasn’t great, but I would say Naomh Conaill and Kilcar played each other last year and the score finished 5-10 to 1-11!  There was so much pressure this time. Both teams were so nervous.

“In our semi-final we put up a big score, Naomh Conaill put up big scores in their semi-final. I don’t think it was right to say one match on any given day was the death of Gaelic football.”

With Kilcar back in action this weekend, the Donegal champions have the chance to prove that they are alive and kicking when they take on Monaghan’s Scotstown in the AIB Ulster club SFC quarter-final.

“Kilcar haven’t played in Ulster in 24 years, so we’re really looking forward to it. We will give it our best shot,” McHugh says. “It’s not going to be an easy match - Scotstown will come to this match as raging-hot favourites.

“They have some phenomenal footballers, but hopefully we can express ourselves and put in a good performance.”

Scotstown’s Kieran Hughes was a housemate of McHugh and clubmate Patrick McBrearty during their college days in UUJ, while Rory Beggan was a classmate.

A post-match reunion may be on the cards, although the Donegal star laughed: “They’re good lads, but friendships will have to go out the window on Sunday I'm afraid!

“Kieran was texting me earlier on, he was talking about staying down on Sunday night maybe. We'll decide about that afterwards!”

Looking further ahead, McHugh will soon have to adapt to a Donegal dressing-room without Rory Gallagher following his departure and the appointment of Declan Bonner as manager.

“I haven’t really worked with Declan before,” McHugh explains. “He was involved a wee bit with me as a minor but he was sort of in the background, but I’m looking forward to it.

“Rory done a great job with Donegal. He deserves a lot of credit for the way he took me in and [helped/> my progress and if you ask anybody in Donegal, they love him and the footballers love him.

“But I’m really looking forward to the county scene and getting knuckled down to try to get back to where we want to be.”