Taken from Hogan Stand magazine 14-08-92

Bridging the gap between dressingroom theory and on-the-field football practice is what separates the match winners from the grafters. That what distinguishes players apart on the football field is commonly referred to as class. Donegal attacker Martin McHugh has long since been seen as the embodiment of elegance and for those west of the Shannon who haven't yet borne witness to the truth, Croke Park on Sunday next will speak volumes in support of such a claim. The Kilcar man is indeed a footballer par excellence. Always has been and will doubtless prove it once again to the thousands gathered at Headquarters to see the best Ireland's Western Seaboard title holders can offer this weekend.

Of all thirty players who will start Sunday's All Ireland football semi final, few are destined to command as much of the spotlight as "An Fear Beag" from Donegal, however. For everyone that witnessed his progression as a player of rare talent over the years, the forthcoming duel with the Western champions, played on the biggest stage of all, presents their own pocked dynamo with the perfect opportunity to display his abilities to the full. Should McHugh fulfil all expectations and produce his ultimate classic performance against Mayo, then it could well spell cheerio for Mayo for season '91/ '92.

A household name in Donegal almost ever since he left scorch marks behind him at Breffini Park in the 1979 Ulster minor Championship tie with Cavan, the now 31 year old attacking genius is arguably one of the most finely tuned athletes currently operating on the G.A.A. circuit. As an eighteen year old he destroyed Cavan on home soil. Thirteen years on he remains one of the few forwards in the country who can turn around the likely shape of a match with a swivel of his hips and unerring accuracy in front of goal. Because of his extremely sharp take-off speed, his superb all-round mobility and his innate football brain, Martin McHugh was never going to be anything other than a thoroughbred footballer, his chosen sport as a youngster in Kilcar.

Born into an environment naturally conclusive to fostering the talents of Gaelic footballers, the underage starlet also had the benefit of tuition from knowledgeable and selfless club mentors at that time. Men like Hugh Shovlin helped young McHugh learn the skills of the game he would soon star in. Later others like Ian Hegarty and Rory Campbell would assist greatly in honing the Wee Man's burgeon and rare skills. Less than a year after tearing the Cavan under eighteen defence to shreds McHugh was elevated to join the County senior squad. The Kilcar teenager's progression took nobody by surprise and he wasted no time in establishing himself alongside such recognised figures of the time as Martin Griffin, Brendan Dunleavy and Seamus Bonner. It was an inauspicious beginning to Mc Hugh's inter-county senior career. A National Football League tie against Tipperary is a far cry away from centre stage on All Ireland semi final day.

Within two seasons, however Donegal with McHugh on board would boast an All Ireland title. As the schemer in chief on the Donegal under 21 team which clinched the All Ireland title in 1982, the ace striker teamed up with the likes of Sean Bonner, Matt Gallagher, Anthony Molloy and Charlie Mulgrew to provide a hint of even greater things to come for the northerners. Within twelve months, the 5 feet seven inch attacking lynchpin had clinched an Ulster senior Championship medal for himself when the Brian McEniff managed side beat Cavan to win the 1983 Ulster crown. Looking back on his first Ulster Championship medal success, Martin remembers the experience with a mixture of joy and pain.

"We were a young team in '83 and we had no fear of losing. In addition, the team had that wee bit of luck that all teams need to win out a Championship. To be honest though, my most abiding memory of that match was having to go off five minutes from the end of the match with a collapsed lung. I was in hospital for a week after the final but the birth of my baby son Mark, three days later, did soften the hurt of my injury and missing out on the celebrations".

Having an uncanny ability to carry the ball straight at defences while at the same time being aware of sideways-running colleagues, Martin McHugh hails from a family of great footballing pedigree. Martin has a proud mother in Kathleen McHugh and a father whose own football exploits made him a highly respected Senior Championship medal with Killybegs in 1952. Jim McHugh would, however, be first to tip the hat to his best known son and his younger brother James, plus 'erstwhile county under 21 star Enda Martin McHugh pinpoints Donegal's current experience of big time football as probably the most vital addition to their armoury in the last couple of seasons. He doesn't pay any useless lip service to things hypothetical but reckons that Donegal's 1-11 to 1-12 defeat to Galway nine years ago may have denied the county an All Ireland title. It's a target within sight again and he aims to strike deep and true this time around.

An honest, wholehearted player and journalist's delight, the eleven stone power-packed sharpshooter doesn't shy away from critical analysis of his play. As an icon for young footballers across the country, he expresses a determination to make up for what he views as nothing short of a disastrous display on a personal front this time two years ago against Meath in the All Ireland semi final. He speaks of putting things right this time around, as if committed to compensating family, relatives and friends for a misdemeanour in times gone past. Such a driving force threatens to turn McHugh into a veritable scud missile on B-line course to blast apart their Mayo defence, a unit which incidentally, impressed him a lot on the evidence of television coverage of the Connacht final In modern times, Brian McEniff has been viewed as the driving force and the inspiration behind much of Martin McHugh's indomitable appetite for creative and efficient football.

In truth, though, the successful sales representative is a dream player to manage. A totally unselfish play-maker to boot, his penchant for bringing the best out of his colleagues up front has made him an indispensable member of the Donegal panel for a dozen years now and well over one hundred competitive appearances. Donegal without Martin McHugh, one would imagine, would be akin to Dublin without messrs. Barr, Curran and Heery. A four times Railway Cup medallist and a winner of two McKenna Cup medals, (the last being notched in 1991) Martin McHugh, Donegal's most feared scoregetter, will make his 25th Senior Championship appearance. Not bad for someone who has been described by the ill-informed over the years as an injury-prone player. Such has been the nature and variety of skills exhibited by McHugh over the last two decades, that he has naturally enough been asked to take his share of the abuse dished out to so-called "marked men".

"My shoulder injury, I suppose, has been my main source of injury over the years. Basically, the injury concerns an area on top of the shoulder joint which needs a pin really to sort it out and to stop it shooting out. I have concentrated a lot on doing a lot weight training over the winter to help the shoulder and it seems to have worked well".

One of only five players to have played on three Donegal Ulster final winning sides - the others being Seamus Bonner, Donal Reid, Anthony Molloy and Joyce McMullan - Martin McHugh will line out on Sunday as his county's longest serving player. A huge responsibility will rest on his shoulders which only people like Michael Carruth, Wayne McCullagh and Sonia O'Sullivan could fully appreciate in the closeness of an August afternoon. Unlikely to chicken out under the glaring spotlight, he'll rely on some decent supply of ball, a dry sod and good interaction between the officialdom on duty to enable him to make "amends" for the disappointment of the 1990 Meath match during which he was substituted for the first time ever in a glittering career. Mayo will likely as not play the same brand of football as Donegal, he predicts. Open, fast football and intelligent running of the ball, he hopes, will be the order of the day. Whatever the eventuality, the man who has teamed up with brothers James and Enda, plus Michael Carr to copper fasten Kilcar's dominance of the Donegal's scene, is "cautiously optimistic" about Sunday's set-to.

In saying that it's the only thing clichéd about Martin McHugh, the only thing predictable. The supporters favourite for many years now has, in the recent past, trained his own club to championship glory in 1985 and again four years later. He knows all about man-management but the one chap he'd like to get to grips with most is Sam Maguire. Nothing less will satisfy him or anyone else in the Donegal camp. For Martin McHugh and almost a half a dozen others in the Donegal camp, Sunday's duel and anything that comes thereafter will represent the proverbial Swansong. Kilcar's chief architect makes no bones about calling a halt to proceedings at the close of this season. Unquestionably, this summer he'll be performing on the last-chance stage. There'll be no encore if things don't work out against Liam McHale and Company.

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