The 2012 Donegal Senior Football Championship was contested by senior

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

clubs under the auspices of

Donegal GAA The Donegal County Board ( ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael Coiste Dhún na nGall) or Donegal GAA is one of 32 county boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in Ireland, and is responsible for the administration of Gaelic games in County Don ...

Format

There was a preliminary round. The first round involved eight two-legged ties played home and away. The eight winning teams progressed to the quarter-finals from which the four winning teams progressed to the semifinals from which the two winning teams progressed to the final. The 2012 Senior Championship finished later than usual, postponed due to the Donegal senior inter-county team's involvement in the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, which they won on 23 September 2012. The 2012 Senior Championship got back underway a week later. With interest in Gaelic football at an all-time high after the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, the Senior County Final was broadcast live nationwide on

TG4 TG4 ( ga, TG Ceathair, ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television network. The channel launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was formerly known ...

Draw

The draw for the first round (as well as a preliminary round) was made at the

RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta (; "Radio of the Gaeltacht"), abbreviated RnaG, is an Irish language radio station owned and operated by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). The station is available on FM in Ireland and via satellite and on the Intern ...

studios in

Derrybeg Doirí Beaga (anglicised as Derrybeg, meaning 'small oak trees'), is a Gaeltacht village and townland in the parish of Gweedore (''Gaoth Dobhair'') in County Donegal, Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in t ...

Bracket

Results

Preliminary round

First round

First leg

Second leg

Play off/ extra time

Quarter-finals

Quarter-final replay

Semi-finals

Final

St Eunan's defeated Naomh Conaill in the final, held at

MacCumhaill Park MacCumhaill Park ( ga, Páirc Sheáin Mhic Cumhaill) is a GAA stadium in Ballybofey, County Donegal, Ireland. It is the home ground of the Seán MacCumhaills club and Donegal's Gaelic football and hurling teams. The ground is named after Se� ...

Ballybofey Ballybofey ( , ; ) is a town located on the south bank of the River Finn, County Donegal, Ireland. Together with the smaller town of Stranorlar on the north side of the River Finn, the towns form the Twin Towns of Ballybofey-Stranorlar. Ba ...

on 4 November 2012. The decisive goal in the final was scored by young Lee McMonagle in the 50th minute of the game, following a layoff from full-forward

Ross Wherity Ross Wherity is an Irish sportsperson. A Gaelic footballer with the St Eunan's club, he has been a member of the Donegal county team at under-21, minor and senior levels. Known for his tendency not to settle with one team (or even one sport ...

, who received the ball via a long pass from

Rory Kavanagh Rory Kavanagh ( ga, Ruairí Ó Caomhánach; born 23 August 1982) is an Irish Gaelic football manager and former player with St Eunan's and the Donegal county team. He currently manages the St Eunan's club. Alongside Colm McFadden and Christy ...

. The teams were level on many occasions until

Mark McGowan Mark McGowan (born 13 July 1967) is an Australian politician, the 30th premier of Western Australia, and the leader of the Western Australian branch of the Labor Party. McGowan was born and raised in Newcastle, New South Wales. He attended t ...

scored the winning point in freak circumstances. Brendan McDyre of opponents Naomh Conaill attempted to backpass to his goalkeeper Stephen McGrath only for the ball to drift out for a '45'. McGowan stepped up to punish. As the game ended he was photographed celebrating—stooped, wild-eyed with open mouth, sweat-soaked, bare thighs tensed, veins throbbing, mud-stained legs apart and clenched fists turned upwards. As Donegal Champions, Eunan's progressed to the Ulster quarter-final the following week, where they were defeated by

Crossmaglen Rangers Crossmaglen Rangers Gaelic Athletic Club ( ga, Raonaithe na Croise) is a GAA club in Crossmaglen, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. They cater for Gaelic football and camogie. Their home football ground is St. Oliver Plunkett Park, which was ...

at Armagh's

Athletic Grounds The Athletic Grounds ( ga, Páirc Lúthchleasaíochta) is a GAA stadium in Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is the county ground and administrative headquarters of Armagh GAA and is used for both Gaelic football and hurling. Uses The stadium i ...

References

External links

Minute-by-minute progression of final on ''TheScore.ie''
!-- ARCHIVE LINK http://web.archive.org/web/20150412230259/http://www.the42.ie/naomh-conaill-st-eunans-live-660282-Nov2012/ --> {{Donegal Senior Football Champions 2012

Donegal Senior Football Championship The Donegal Senior Football Championship (abbreviated as Donegal SFC) is an annual football competition organised by Donegal GAA and contested by the highest-level clubs, to determine the best team in County Donegal. Since 2016, it has been known ...

Donegal Senior Football Championship