BY DÁIRE BONNAR

NAOMH Pádraig boss Daniel McCauley praised what has been an incredible journey for the club since the beginning of 2024 and feels they can kick on in the Donegal Intermediate Championship.

The manager previously spoke about wanting to win an Ulster title and the squad did so, despite overcoming the setback of losing teammate and talented forward Evan Craig in September, showing their resilience.

But it wasn’t to be in Croke Park as they suffered defeat at the hands of a 66th-minute winning point against An Chearthú Rua.

“It’s heart-breaking,” said McCauley after the game.

“There’s no other way really to describe it. We’re devastated and it’s just hard to put into words really.

“The year we’ve had, the effort that’s gone into that, I’m just so proud of them.

“Even though it wasn’t to be today, I couldn’t have asked for more from them.

“But I’ve told them in there, it’s how they react to the likes of this now that really counts. And I’ve no doubt they’ll come back even stronger.

“I told them to hold their heads high and appreciate just how far they’ve come. I’ve had so many of the lads – ever since they were nine or ten years of age. It’s been an incredible journey.

“I love them all like family. So I’m not devastated for myself, it’s them really that I feel for. That’s what’s killing me. No one will ever really understand just what those boys have been through this year.

“They’ve come out the other side now and they’ve done the parish and club so proud. We could never have imagined the journey that was ahead of us at the start of this season.”

Naomh Pádraig would have felt aggrieved not to win a late free in a good position when Dermot Keaveney was felled, but referee Jonathan Hayes played on and abruptly blew for full -ime.

“It’s not sour grapes but that should have been a free at the end,” McCauley added. “He’d given them all day. He was consistent all day with that type of call on both teams. Dermot had given one away quite similar himself not long before that.

“Maybe it was the pressure of the triple header and not wanting the game to go to extra-time. But it was definitely a free. He told our lads it was a slip by Dermot but he definitely caught him. Again, it’s not sour grapes.”

It’ll be a short turnaround until the next season for the Muff club, with another campaign in Division Two beginning in April before a first-ever stint in the Intermediate Championship and McCauley has high hopes for his young guns.

“The next few days will be sore, raw even. But it’s open road now in front of them. We have Intermediate Championship football to look forward to and another season in Division Two. I’ve told them there is an Intermediate title in them in the next four or five years. If they stick together that’s there for them.”