It was a weekend of reflecting on past glories for Noel Hegarty, but by Monday it was a time for looking to the future in Glencolmcille.
Hegarty was part of the 1992 Ulster and All-Ireland-winning Donegal squad that was honoured at Sunday’s Ulster final in Clones.
25 years on from that fabled journey to immortality, Brian McEniff’s boys walked the St Tiernach’s Park sod again.
By Monday night, Hegarty was guiding Naomh Columba to glory in the Donegal Minor League Division 1 final against Sean MacCumhaills.
“We got the players together this year and hopefully we’ll keep having strong underage squads now in Glen for a few years,” Hegarty said after Aaron Doherty’s eleven points gave Glen a 1-17 to 2-6 win.
“We’re working hard this last ten years, but we’re lucky that we have some very good players coming through too.”
It was the club’s first underage Division 1 title since ’92, when they won the U16 Championship, beating Ardara 1-13 to 3-6.
You have to wind all the way back to 1986 for their last slice of glory in a Division 1 competition at Minor level. Hegarty was playing then in a Minor Championship final win over Downings in Ballybofey.
Hegarty said: “It’s been a long time. If you’re a club on the outskirts in a small area, it’s a big ask.
“This team played ‘B’ all their lives. We played ‘A’ this year. There are still a lot of good teams there for the Championship, but we’ll give it a go.”
Listen to the full interview below …
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