Donegal put their Ulster title on the line against Derry on Sunday. Shane O’Donnell has developed into one of their key players. He spoke with Michael McMullan…

ONE of the regrets lingering in the winter’s inner thoughts of Jim McGuinnes was having to rob Peter to pay Paul. The dynamic Shane O’Donnell was caught in the crossfire.

As Eoghan Bán Gallagher was forced off, Donegal’s All-Ireland semi-final with Galway was resting on the edge. Winnable, yet a battle they lost.

Speaking with former Donegal star Brendan Devenney earlier this year, for Highland Radio, McGuinness lamented the necessity of having to move O’Donnell back to be the line-breaker they no longer had.

It robbed them of his punch higher up the pitch. While Sunday is only O’Donnell’s 13th championship appearance, the St Eunan’s man is very much their not-so-secret weapon.

Pace. Punch. A scorer. A worker. He’s everything you’d want. On the day Michael Murphy played his last championship game, their 2022 qualifier exit to Armagh, O’Donnell kicked 0-4.

It was the same last autumn when St Eunan’s nearly toppled eventual All-Ireland finalists Errigal Ciaran.

Having made his Donegal championship debut in 2022, he’s won twice as many championship games as he’s lost.

The 2023 season became more about the players Donegal didn’t have available. O’Donnell, who was wrongly sent off in 2022 St Eunan’s county final defeat to Naomh Conaill, was one of them.

When Jim McGuiness took over, he united everyone. Donegal were back to a full deck, including O’Donnell who played virtually every minute of last season.

That was then. This is now. It’s Monday at the Ulster Championship launch. The visit of Derry is 13 days away. O’Donnell is comfortable in himself. Polite. Well spoken. Knowing the need for a performance if they can take their title defence into a quarter-final with Monaghan.

When Derry led Donegal for 44 minutes in Ballyshannon in early March, Michael Murphy created three second-half goal chances. Odhrán Lynch saved one from Jamie Brennan. Eoin McEvoy cut down Brennan’s angle on another.

The third fell to O’Donnell. Crash. Back of the net. Donegal’s goal drought was over. Another win.

“You don’t realise how quick the time flies in when you’re playing games week on week,” he said of the new-look season and championship preparation now firmly on his doorstep.

“The time does fly in and, to be honest, it’s probably a good thing because you’re enjoying the football.”

They are happy to get started. Every summer is the same. The hopes of a long one.

They’d the rules to contend with and the rehash after the fifth round. A learning curve but they’re happy.

Aside from recalibrating for the new game, the early season was about making sure they woke up in 2026 with Division One to look forward to.

“That is tough,” he said of studying the rules. As a middle third player, O’Donnell was up close and personal with the new enhancements.

“There’s a few times there you’re getting caught with a few rules like keeping the three up,” he added. “You weren’t sure who was going to stay up and who was going to come back and things like that. It was tough to get used to but when you’re practising them and training week on week and you’re doing them in the games then as well, it does pick up fairly quick.”

A 10-minute chat in his company and you get a flavour of why O’Donnell is an ever-present. You can sense the game intelligence and why he was asked to step into Eoghan Bán Gallagher’s shoes last summer.

Watching him on the pitch and you can’t help but ponder the level of output from the GPS unit tracking his every move.

The swathes of children on the terraces at MacCumhaill Park would love to be stepping out on the pitch on Sunday. There is a feel-good factor you can reach out and almost touch.

O’Donnell remembers his own impressionable years. He pauses. The mind goes back to the first coming of McGuinness as manager. The days of 2011 and a pathway to All-Ireland number two.

“I suppose my generation all kicked off whenever Jim first came in,” he said. “I was only probably nine or ten when he first came into the scene and that’s probably where my involvement with Donegal started.

“I suppose the Ulster Championship obviously is the big one and always has been the big one.”

O’Donnell momentarily fast forwards to now. As a player, he can speak for the tight nature of Ulster games.

Like most in the Donegal camp, he references last summer and Tyrone in Celtic Park. They could’ve been gone but found a way to win.

It took them to Clones. O’Donnell’s first Ulster final was their 2022 extra-time defeat to Derry. Last year, he was on the other side of a knife-edge.

He can still see the moment when clubmate Shaun Patton’s penalty save put an Ulster medal in all their pockets. A sixth since the 2011 breakthrough. O’Donnell can still see those games too.

“I suppose the big ones for me are, thinking back, getting to Clones and getting out to the pitch after Ulster finals,” he said.

Looking up to Colm McFadden or Michael Murphy. His clubmate Rory Kavanagh. Colour. Selfies. High fives.

Now he is on the other side. He is posing for photos, requests for gloves. So, what’s that like?

“It’s great, when everything’s going well it’s very enjoyable,” came the reply with a quick caveat.

It can turn quickly. There is always a need to be switched on.

“Ah, no listen, whenever you see the kids and they’re all coming on to the pitch after games, you always enjoy it,” he adds.

“It brings a smile to them and it brings a smile to you to see the amount of them that are coming out, especially the home games.”

Having the support of the county matters. When the chips are down, fans may not realise it, but it makes a difference.

“It might come down to them shouting us on from the sideline, us listening to them and feeding off that energy that we’re getting from them,” he explains.

There is also the chemistry within the squad. From Inishowen to Glencolumbcille and across to Gaoth Dobhair, they have a group of “friends for life”. There is the craic and the serious side. Both are needed.

So, as championship beckons, what did Donegal take from last season? Shane O’Donnell’s word is resilience in the group. Examples are introduced to the conversation.

“The Ulster semi-final against Tyrone, coming back from the brink of death nearly to scrap an extra time win,” he said.

“Even against Armagh. I think we were three or four points down and we got it back to extra time. Then went two or three down again and still managed to get it to penalties.”

There was also the reality check in Cork, after their perfectly choreographed All-Ireland series win over Tyrone, when they came a cropper in Páirc Uí Rinn. Perfection to defeat inside six days. O’Donnell files it away under the “wakeup call” category.

“The quick turnaround and having to travel all the way down to Cork,” he said.

“It was tough going on the bodies but they brought it to us straight away physically and mentally.”

Donegal could’ve snatched victory but it would’ve been a steal. Cork deserved their win.

“Usually, you’re used to losing and going out of the championship,” he summed up.

“We still had another chance and then obviously the Galway one was a big learning curve then as well.”

There was a bright start before their shooting efficiency left them when they needed it most.

Shane O’Donnell has yet to watch it back. He tends not to delve through past games.

He couldn’t even bring himself to watch the All-Ireland final after Donegal’s near miss.

Sunday is a clean slate. It’s back to the familiar surroundings of Ballybofey. It’s his third championship game there. Donegal fans will hope it’s a third win.