14 YEARS AFTER making his debut for Naomh Conaill, Leo McLoone is preparing to lead the club into battle for their second-ever Ulster final on Sunday.
McLoone was just 16-years-old when he made his senior bow for the club in 2005, the same year they lifted the Donegal SFC for the first time in their history.
A major reason for their rise in ’05, when they reached the county final for the first time in 40 years, was the presence of one Jim McGuinness in the backroom team.
McGuinness was still playing when he suffered a devastating knee injury prior to that campaign and was brought on board to coach the team by manager Hughie Molloy.
McLoone recalls the future Donegal boss introducing him to the group.
“It was a league game in Ardara,” he says. “I remember Jim McGuinness introducing me to the panel and saying, ‘Well done, it’s his first game for Naomh Conaill and he’ll be playing for the next 20 years.’
“And you’re thinking, ‘Holy God’. Laughing at him thinking that’s never going to happen but here we are now 14 years later…”
McGuinness’s declaration proved prophetic and McLoone went on to enjoy a distinguished career at club and county level.
Naomh Conaill landed their historic first title that October, defeating St Eunan’s after a replay in the final. McLoone featured off the bench for his championship debut in the drawn game, while McGuinness made his victorious return from injury in the two-point replay victory.
“It was just a bit of a crazy time looking back on as a 16-year-old being thrown in,” says McLoone. “It was a brilliant time at home.
“I think when you’re young you don’t realise or don’t understand I suppose how serious the thing is. You’re young, you’re naive, you just go out and play football like but I can remember it just being a serious atmosphere there.
“It was a time we’ll not forget and it was nice to make my senior championship debut on county final day.”
McGuinness heavily influenced the defensive style of play Naomh Conaill would employ over the ensuing years which has brought them a good deal of success. He was joint-manager alongside Cathal Corey when they delivered a second county title in 2010 with McLoone scoring four points in the final.
McGuinness moved onto the Donegal job the following year and the pair tasted All-Ireland glory together with the county side in 2012.
McLoone skippered the Glenties club to their third title in 2015, which came a decade after his debut. It also arrived 50 years after his father captained the club in their 1965 county final defeat to St Joseph’s.
“It was in 1965 the Naomh Conaill team played in the county final, my father was captain and they actually got beat that day. So obviously, in 2005 it was the first time we’d won it and it was great for those types of people.
“There’s a lot of hurt for them older fellas too that they never actually got the club championship but I think over the years you have seen what it meant to them and to the people of Glenties.
“Winning is everything and we know football is such a big part of everyone’s life. Not just in Glenties but in the clubs throughout Ireland.”
The club’s latest title arrived after an epic three-game saga against reigning Ulster champions Gaoth Dobhair. Criticism over their style of play has been frequent over the years, while county final defeats in 2017 and 2018 also stung, meaning they didn’t lack for motivation in 2019.
“We would have come in for a lot of criticism from a lot media and whatnot for the way we play,” he explained.
“We got a lot of motivation for that. Things were said like, ‘We’re going to make it three-in-a-row of defeats in county titles’. All that stacks up in players’ heads. It was a case where we didn’t want to let it slip this time and we weren’t going to without a fight.
“Overall, what’s really important for us this year is that some of our younger players have stepped up. Ciaran Thompson has come out and led our team in nearly every game we’ve played. He’s captain and has led the team in almost every game throughout.
“He’s brought a cohort of younger players with him. I don’t want to name names because I’ll miss a few. Some fellas have come in this year and given everything. They put their lives on hold. There’s boys up here (in Dublin) in college who’d be travelling home for games and whatnot, training sessions.”
“A team is a team but overall, in the past couple of years, the younger players have really stepped up. They’ve helped us immensely.”
It took three games and over 220 minutes of football to overcome Gaoth Dobhair in the final.
“It was something,” McLoone says of the three games in 10 days. “Having friends working down the country, people sorting out their work. People were like planning off the Monday, and then next thing there was the following week.
“It upset plans, and then next thing everyone was like, it’s a draw again. It’s a Wednesday night, and someone is gonna miss this, or someone is gonna miss that.
“It was kinda crazy the way the games were being thrown on us. When you come out the other side of it, it leaves a nice taste.”
Just three days after their dramatic second replay win over Gaobh Dobhair, Naomh Conaill were back in action against Castlerahan.
They defied the odds to dump out the Cavan champions before defeating a talented Clontibret side that contained Conor McManus in their attack.
McLoone insisted the post-county final celebrations were not curtailed despite the short turnaround to the Castlerahan encounter. The family bar provided the ideal setting to toast their recent victories.
“We had a party there [at McLoone's bar] after the last game against Clontibret. I suppose we’re enjoying it because we didn’t get a full chance to enjoy our county championship win. Well, we got two days but…” he laughs.
“So it was all rolled into one day. We won the final on a Wednesday and we weren’t back into town until 1.30am that night and time just all rolled into one day really. Thursday night we wrapped up and Friday we done a bit of a light session as you can imagine.
“Just a bit of a warm-up but it was good to get everyone together and get focused for the Ulster championship game against Castlerahan.
“The Castlerahan game, it was only a few days to focus for that.
“That was our sole focus, you know? We weren’t looking beyond it really. Likewise we had two weeks until the Clontibret game.
“That was our only focus. We weren’t looking past Clontibret. Likewise, now we’re in a final, and we’re going to play to your potential… hopefully play to our potential, and give everything we have.
“Hopefully it’s enough, but if you play to your potential you can’t complain about much after that really.”
They face another extremely experienced outfit in Kilcoo this weekend and it’s a challenge McLoone is looking forward to.
“We haven’t crossed paths at senior level at all. I know they’ve had a lot of success at senior level in their county and the Ulster championship – they’ve been to a lot of Ulster finals. They’re well experienced and they have a lot of good players.
“Overall, we’re just focusing on ourselves and our own game, bringing what we can to the table, giving everything we have. We’re just hoping that will be enough on the day.”
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