Brian McEniff laments the one that got away

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.

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 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 U21 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 — from the back of a truck at Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada.

Ten from Tom Conaghan’s team would infuse McEniff’s seniors. In the Ulster quarter-final of 1983, Donegal overcame Armagh 1-10 to 0-7 in Ballybofey with Charlie Mulgrew, a native of Maghery before moving to Letterkenny, scoring a wonderful first-half goal.

In the semi-final at Irvinestown, Mulgrew left with a broken jaw but Donegal defeated Monaghan, 1-14 to 1-9, with Joyce McMullin the goalscorer.

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 Martin 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. Donegal went in 1-6 to 0-6 in front at half-time.

“An interesting first half without being spectacular,” 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, 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 unclean but it flew past Noel McCole in the Donegal goal. Donegal couldn’t get back on terms. Galway won 1-12 to 1-11.

“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.”

In the other semi-final, Dublin and Cork drew 2-11 apiece at Croke Park before the replay — the day of “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 galeforce 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 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.”