CHAMPIONSHIP2018
Past encounters will count for little insists Donohoe
WITH three wins from three starts against Naomh Mairtin this season you would be forgiven for thinking Newtown Blues only have to turn up to retain their Louth SFC title on Sunday, but Fergal Donohoe insists nothing could be further from the truth.
‘The games we’ve played them in this year have been very good contests. We’ve played them three times and we’ve beaten them three times but I don’t think that will matter on Sunday,’ says the Louth defender. ‘Sunday’s the only game that matters for us and for them too I’m sure. They’ll be well up for it and they have the players to do it and we have the players to do it so I think it will be a good contest again.
‘They have great players, county lads like Sam and Whelo [Conor Whelan] is in great form there. They’re lads you want to sniff out obviously, but other lads will stand up to the plate too because you can’t rely on the big players all the time. So you have to be wary of them all and deal with the threats as they come.
‘It’s their first county final, so they’re going to be well up for it. It’s all about one game and you can’t let the occasion go to you head. It’s just one game of football, two teams putting 15 lads out on the pitch and they have to do the job.’
But aside from assessing the threats and knowing what to expect, Donohoe says the focus on the opposition ends there.
‘We concentrate on ourselves and get our game right, that’s all that maters at the end of the day really. If we play our own game we know we can get the job done.
‘The mood is good and we’re looking forward to it now and hopefully we have the preparation right and we can get the win.’
With minor, U-21, senior and O’Donnell Cup crowns to his name, Donohoe knows what it takes to win big games and he’s not getting distracted by the two-in-a-row talk.
‘You take it as it comes. You want to replicate what the boys did in the past, but you have to take every game and every championship as they come and hopefully we can get as many as we can.
‘Itt hasn’t been done since ‘01 and our coaches were in- volved then, so it’s a big thing for them and it’s a big thing for the club. Everyone is rooting for us, so hopefully we can do it. It’s not an easy thing to do and there have been brilliant teams that I watched as a kid, lads still on this panel that were involved, and they didn’t manage to do it. Hopefully we’re not looking back in 10 years time saying we should have done a two-in-a-row or three-in-a-row.
‘The hunger is always there and you can see that over the past few years, with a lot of us involved in minor, U21 and senior finals. We’re no stranger to them so hopefully we can keep going.
‘Last year we had a new manager in and it was tough to get going. Lads were coming and going but it’s about getting into a rhythm and last year we got into a rhythm the end of the season and it turned out well. We started this season well so we want to keep that going and not get complacent.’
Despite all the turmoil, Fergal enjoyed a solid first season with the Louth seniors and he enjoyed the experience.
‘It’s tough when the lads are training deep in the winter and you’re not there and you’re only coming back in any time you can. But I know the lads so well and get on with them so well and when you come back in it does feel like you never left,’ he says.