Winning habit breeds confidence in Oak Leafers

You can see it in his eyes even now. Dermot McBride didn’t play in Ballybofey last year, didn’t play in Longford either, but you can see it in his eyes.

The boyish complexion, akin more to an U14 than an inter-county corner-back, hardens momentarily. He talks openly about how much it hurt him watching those two defeats, but it’s the last thing he wants to think about.

“It’s horrible,” said the Ballinascreen man. “Donegal, they’re neighbours, and they beat us two years in a row. It was horrible. I was watching it and it was very, very hard to watch. Last year we were decimated by injuries.