Off the beaten track 2: A selection of stories from last week's championship

Toeing the line
Like the Glen Campbell song, Wichita Lineman, former Donegal senior team manager Declan Bonner had another role to play at a tasty Junior championship encounter close to his home in Leitirmacaward on Saturday between Na Rossa and Letterkenny Gaels.

Bonner was the Na Rossa linesman - and team mentor at the same time. He was patrolling the Dungloe side of the ground, which was probably the busier side for line balls, but was miles away from the main action, which took place on the dressing room side where the mentors from both sides were located.

There were no areas marked out for management patrols and as the passion levels rose, so too did the distance the patrols swayed from what should have been their designated areas.

As fortunes swayed and the game was level going into added time at the end of the second half, the levels of interaction rose accordingly. Shoulders were tested; water cannon brought into play; insults were traded, all in the name of sport.
Having a grandstand seat (but not insured to be that close) it was difficult to concentrate on the on-field and off-field action.

Thankfully, it didn’t boil over and fair play to the players on the field, who gave everything without trading a dirty blow.
After it ended in a draw, everybody seemed to be happy and Declan Bonner was probably the lucky linesman, being able to enjoy a fantastic game with distraction. PC