McFadden determined to end 19 years of pain for Donegal

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.

As he recalled: “I watched it at home in the sitting room and we were leading for most of the game and when Brolly got the goal at the end, I remember I ran straight down the hall and went outside and there was a bucket in front of me and I just booted it.

“That is actually one of my earliest memories — that goal and the heartache it caused.”

Donegal kicking the bucket is not on McFadden’s mind as the neighbouring counties come together in an Ulster final for the first time in 13 years.

He doesn’t think it will happen either. Even though they went six points to one down against Tyrone, they never panicked.

“There is one thing about this team and that is we are not going to lie down. Tyrone, and even that Armagh team, were the two brilliant teams of the last 10 years and the one thing about them was when they did get a lead, they could really press it home, really drive it home and pile on score after score.

“It is hard to know now whether we [former Donegal teams] could have turned it back.”

McFadden certainly knows he works harder on this Donegal team than any other he has played on.

“I suppose one thing that I would not have been used of doing is turning over the ball and because of that, when I did manage to win a turnover this year I got great fulfilment from it. It was probably as good as scoring a point.”

His confidence is soaring too. It’s difficult to believe that it’s only 13 months since the St Michael’s man was lambasted for appearing to smile on TV after being substituted in the nine-point All-Ireland qualifier defeat to Armagh. He was actually reacting to the news that he would be receiving a memento at the end of the day for making his 100th appearance for Donegal. He couldn’t believe it.

But that awful day in Crossmaglen seems a long time ago now. McGuinness has transformed him and his teammates.

“One of the things that he has done is build confidence within the team, both our own individual self-confidence and confidence in each other as well.”

McGuinness has also been careful not to lumber massive expectations on his men. He might have been there when Donegal went all the way in 1992 but he doesn’t remind them.

“We are not fed up of hearing about Anthony Molloy and Martin McHugh,” smiled McFadden. “They deserve the credit, they won an All-Ireland. 19 years is a long time and definitely we would love to bridge that gap.”

Likewise, McGuinness hasn’t been emphasising the importance of winning a first Ulster title in 19 years.

The players themselves haven’t felt any extra pressure.

“I definitely would not feel that there is a burden. You would always feel that it has been a while since we won Ulster and you always want to bridge the gap but you would never feel it was a burden or there was any extra pressure.

“We have not won any Ulster titles as players and it does not matter if it was 30 years, we still want to win an Ulster title. It does not really matter about how long ago it was — we just want the Ulster title for ourselves.”