Alan Foley’s tribute to Pat Shovelin, goalkeeping coach to Donegal’s senior footballers.

Seamus Coleman has not set himself any targets for a possible return following the injury that looks likely to keep him out for the remainder of the Republic of Ireland’s qualifiers for next year’s World Cup in Russia.

It’s a Wednesday evening and the main street in Ardara is quiet.

There was a time within living memory when the Railway Cup was a big deal.

Normally, the distance from the Burlington Hotel to Glenswilly is 260 kilometres or so — but this was no normal week in Donegal.

An All-Ireland senior title-winning captain at just 23, the scorer of 1-4 in the final and the man-of-the-match to boot. It was quite a Sunday for Donegal's Michael Murphy.

Seven-hundred and sixty days.

Just two years ago last June, the only Donegal man ever to lift Sam Maguire gave a damning appraisal of just where the state of football was at in the county.

Sixty-one years ago, Mayo kids were told to get used to the feel of the Sam Maguire.

For Paddy McBrearty, Maynooth has been a home away from home these past eight days.

A COUPLE of dubious penalty calls, one given to Donegal and one not awarded against them, shouldn’t and won’t sully the county’s first provincial title in 19 years.

PLENTY of Donegal teenagers in 1998 associated Joe Brolly with anguish. Colm McFadden can go one better. The pundit’s winning goal for Derry actually caused him physical pain.

SEAMUS SWEENEY won’t be short on motivation when his New York side take to the field against Roscommon tomorrow in the Bronx (Gaelic Park, 8pm Irish time).

WICKLOW GAA chiefs will give Mick O’Dwyer “the space he wants” to decide on his managerial future with the Garden County.

AS IF life isn’t difficult enough for the New York footballers, an injury crisis has been added to the list of exiles’ woes ahead of tomorrow’s Connacht SFC clash with Leitrim at Gaelic Park.

GLUM expressions in Donegal this week. Talk of the summer in ruins, that sort of thing. Psychic wounds re-opened as two players, Eamon Magee and Brian McLoughlin, were kicked off the panel for turning up ‘unfit to train’.

SEAN BOYLAN’S position as Meath manager was strengthened last night when he received a vote of confidence from the county board.

Former All-Ireland winning captain Anthony Molloy has ruled himself out of the race to succeed Brian McEniff as Donegal's senior football manager.

SUNDAY has been a long time coming for John Gildea. The power-house midfielder has toiled with Donegal for the best part of a decade, yet Sunday will be his first All-Ireland semi-final.

DO NOT buy or accept metal detectors as presents this Christmas or you could end up spending the new year in jail, an expert warned yesterday.

THE memories have come flooding back for Brian McEniff.