ON A lonely bench at Belgrave Park in Rathmines he sat one night. All night long.
Brian McEniff, the Donegal manager, was struggling to comprehend what had taken place 12 hours earlier at Croke Park in glorious sunshine in front of 28,507 people – where his team had lost the 1983 All-Ireland semi-final by a point against Galway. His panel drowned their sorrows in the Skylon Hotel as he flagged a taxi and headed south of the Liffey.
In the dark of the night and with only himself for company, it was still no clearer.
That year Donegal had won only their third Ulster title. On each occasion beforehand – in 1972 against Offaly and then in 1974 when pitted against Galway – they failed to take that next step and reach an All-Ireland final.
By 1982, there were seeds of optimism. Donegal won the All-Ireland Under-21 championship for the first time courtesy of a 0-8 to 0-5 win over Roscommon at Carrick-on-Shannon.
“We’ve won it,” roared Fr Séan Ó Gallchóir – the appointed commentator for the day to accompany the now grainy video footage – from the back of a truck at Pairc Sean MacDiarmada.
Ten from Tom Conaghan’s team would infuse McEniff’s seniors. One was Martin McHugh, a diminutive forward from Kilcar who first appeared in for the seniors in 1981. He was joined by Anthony Molloy, Donal Reid, Joyce McMullin and Matt Gallagher.
Players like goalkeeper Noel McCole, Michael Carr, Michael Lafferty, Kieran Keeney and Letterkenny native Paul McGettigan, who was based in Merlin Park and played for Galway in the 1978 Connacht final, had experience from Croke Park from the 1970s.
Having lost to Armagh in cut-throat Ulster championship first round encounters in 1981 and 1982, by 1983 Donegal were ready for the Orchard County. McHugh recalls a Dr McKenna Cup meeting in Lurgan that January.
“I landed late as I was picking up my sister from Dublin airport but we managed to get a draw and win the replay,” he says. “That was the turning point in our fortunes.”
In the Ulster quarter-final, Donegal overcame Armagh 1-10 to 0-7 in Ballybofey with Charlie Mulgrew, a native of Maghery before his family moved to Letterkenny, scoring a wonderful first half goal.
In the semi-final at Irvinestown, Mulgrew left with a broken jaw. After a tempestuous affair, Donegal defeated Monaghan, 1-14 to 1-9, with McMullin (pictured above) the goalscorer in what was a debut for Des Newton, a Roscommon native who was teaching in Carndonagh and playing for Urris. He filled in for Gallagher, who had appendicitis.
In the Ulster final, a goal and a point, both from penalties by the late Seamus Bonnar, sealed a 1-14 to 1-11 win in Clones against Cavan. Donegal had won the Anglo-Celt Cup. Galway lay in wait.
“We’d gone to Dublin the week before to train at Croke Park,” recalls McHugh, who had been laid up with a collapsed lung since the Ulster final. “We were out for 10 minutes and were put off the pitch.”
The semi-final was poor fare. Donegal went in 1-6 to 0-6 in front at half-time with Keeney having gobbled up a rebound after Michael Carr’s shot came back down off the upright.
“An interesting first half without being spectacular in any way,” was RTÉ commentator Michael O’Hehir’s summary.
One of the biggest cheers was when news of Eamon Coghlan’s gold medal at the 1500m at the World Championships in Helsinki flashed on the Nally Stand scoreboard.
Stuttering Donegal led by a point with eight minutes remaining. Stephen Joyce, from a 50 as it was known then, stood over the ball.
“Is this the equaliser?,” O’Hehir wondered as Joyce ran towards the ball.
He scuffed his effort and Val Daly, Galway’s half-forward, grasped possession at the second attempt after a fumble.
Possibly shooting for a point, Daly’s hooked strike was as unclean but it flew past McCole in the Donegal goal.
“And Galway hit the front,” O’Hare screamed.
Donegal couldn’t get back on terms. When referee Weeshie Fogarty blew for time, players slumped to their knees. Galway won 1-12 to 1-11.
Watch the 1983 All-Ireland semi-final. Video courtesy of RTE and Kilcar GAA
https://wwwyoutube.com/watch?v=0K0xfx6R8KY
“Val Daly kicked the ball over his shoulder,” McCole said in 1994. “I didn’t see it until very late. I got a finger to it but it still ended up in the net. It was a real body blow; we just didn’t do ourselves justice.”
McHugh adds: “It was a poor match. Michael Carr might’ve got his hands to Val Daly’s shot and it ended up in the net. If we’d have got over Galway I think we’d have won the All-Ireland.”
In the other semi-final, Dublin and Cork drew 2-11 apiece at Croke Park before the replay – the day of the “Hill 17 on Tour” took place at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, with Dublin winning 4-15 to 2-10.
Kevin Heffernan’s team, who lost Ray Hazley, Ciaran Duff and Brian Mullins to red cards, defeated a Galway side who had Tomás Tierney dismissed in gale force winds at Croke Park in the All-Ireland final, 1-10 to 1-8.
“After our semi-final, I sat all night in Rathmines wondering how we lost,” McEniff says. “We had played poorly but should have won and before the All-Ireland final, played Galway in Tuam in a game that Mattie McDonagh, the Galway manager, requested.
“We won by seven points and I felt worse after that. Dublin’s ‘12 apostles’ went on to win the All-Ireland. We could only wonder what might have been. But we’d get another chance in 1992 …”
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