Hugh McFadden delighted to finish spring campaign with silverware
Donegal midfielder Hugh McFadden being tackled by Meath's Cillian O'Sullivan and Conor McGill at Croke Park during the Allianz Football League Division Two Final at Croke Park.
By Cian O'Connell
Reclaiming Allianz Football League Division One status was Donegal's spring brief so joint captain Hugh McFadden is encouraged ahead of the summer.
That objective has been realised, while the manner of Saturday evening's Division Two Final success also brought joy.
Donegal trailed Meath by eight points early on before launching a dramatic comeback. That so many emerging players contributed to the success pleased McFadden.
“The obvious one is Oisin Gallen, first year out of minor, he’s been seriously impressive," McFadden says.
"He kicked four scores – to do that in your first year of senior football is magnificent. Niall O’Donnell’s really stepped it up a level, Caolan McGonagle, Jason McGee’s back in, Michael Langan’s proven he’s a top player, Brendan McCole’s got a lot of football in, Daire Ó Baoill’s done excellent the last two games.
"There’s a lot of players have improved themselves. We’re building a squad and it’s all about the Ulster Championship now."
Donegal impressed in 2018 earning provincial glory, but Monaghan and Tyrone both reached the last four of the All Ireland Championship. How much did that bother Donegal?
Michael Murphy and Hugh McFadden following Donegal's Allianz Football League Division Two triumph.
“We have to be realistic," McFadden replies. "Tyrone beat us by seven points last year in MacCumhaill Park unfortunately. It’s something we wouldn’t be proud of. The standard of performances Monaghan and Tyrone both put in last year probably left them in the top few teams in the country.
"We did win Ulster, we’ve come back and won Division Two this year. We see ourselves as the team that wants to win Ulster, but we have to recognise the quality of competition in Ulster is of a seriously high standard compared to the rest I think.
"It’s going to be a tight battle to try to land the Anglo Celt, and that’s without trying to get over Fermanagh first. It’s going to be a titanic battle given the recent history."
How does McFadden feel Donegal are set ahead of what promises to be an interesting Championship? “We’re in an okay place," McFadden replies. "There were definitely aspects of our Division Two performances that weren’t too impressive. We wouldn’t be happy with the way we lost the game away to Tipperary or at home to Fermanagh.
"There were other aspects that weren’t too good even when we won the games, especially Meath dominated us at home in MacCumhaill Park.
"But when we met up a few times before Christmas, we targeted getting out of Division Two. You want to be in Division One, you want to be playing the best teams. Thankfully we did that and topped it off with a win.
“Any time you get to lift a wee bit of silverware, the age profile of our squad’s very young and lifting trophies in Croke Park is only going to help our experience."
