Donegal Land Crucial Psychological Blow

It may be late February but with a fierce edge on the field and a crowd of over 11,000 in the stands, yesterday’s scuffle could easily have passed for high Summer.

Donegal and Mayo have shared a tempestuous recent history and there was certainly no love lost between those in battle. This Donegal team’s finest hour came at the expense of Mayo but since then it is the men from Davitt country who’ve bossed the meetings. Going into the game with two league wins from two, Donegal generally might not have been majorly bothered about getting a third win but the opposition dictated their mood – they wanted this one.

It was tight and claustrophobic for long spells and the hosts took longer to settle with many of their main men struggling to put a stamp on proceedings.

Martin O’Reilly and Patrick McBrearty didn’t see much of the ball early on with Donegal finding it difficult to escape Mayo’s clutches around the middle third.

Most of Peter Boyle’s kick outs were won by the visitors and it is in these situations where Paul Durcan’s absence, in particular the big man’s laser like ability to find his teammates with short to mid range kicks, is most keenly felt. In the opening quarter, Donegal just needed an outlet ball to stem the tide but Mayo’s high press made it very difficult.

With so many switches around the middle third, Rory Kavanagh and Micheal Carroll were late additions to the starting line-up, Donegal seemed a bit at sea and this gave Mayo’s half back line licence and room to get forward. Shane Nally, Lee Keegan, and Brendan Harrison all got on the score sheet after running from deep.

Martin McElhinney’s introduction added some much needed ball-winning and ball-carrying finesse to the equation and he helped his side stay in contention at a time when they were clearly second best.

A majestic point from Ryan McHugh along with the free-taking of McBrearty and Michael Murphy meant Mayo were never more than a couple of scores ahead and the half finished with just the minimum between the sides.

Louis Van Gaal recently complained that the ‘Law of Murphy’ was afflicting his Manchester United team but we’ve no such objections in Donegal - Michael’s antenna was firmly back in tune, striking some crucial frees throughout.

Mayo impressed for long spells but there doesn’t seem to have been any major shift in their style of play since the appointment of Stephen Rochford. Granted, as a top tier team, it could be argued that they don’t need to alter things too much; to finally get their hands on the Holy Grail though they need to add another couple of strings to their bow.

Their game plan over the past few years has certainly caused plenty of trouble for Donegal, who can't quite seem to figure out how best to play against Mayo; a spell of three and a half years without a Donegal victory in the fixture tells its own story.

However, Donegal know if they can break Mayo’s first high line of defence then their pace and skill can reap rewards and that is why they persist in attempting to go through that green and red wall; easier said than done of course.

It's a high risk strategy that Mayo consistently employ and ultimately forms a large part of the testimony as to why this group haven’t got their All-Ireland – when it works it suffocates teams but when it doesn’t, they’re woefully exposed at the back.

And so it came to pass. Leo McLoone was the beneficiary, raising a green flag after a move which could have seen any of four Donegal players apply the finishing touch such was the overlap created. 

It was a trademark ice-cool strike from McLoone, who was bizarrely described by James McCartan on RTE’s highlights programme as ‘not being noted for his finishing’. One of Leo’s more important Donegal goals came in the 2012 Ulster Final against Down.....any guesses on who was patrolling the side line at Clones that day? It was of course none other than, Mr McCartan!

Christy Toye played a vital role in setting up the goal, a key moment in the midst of what was an impressive cameo, similar to what he did against the same opposition in the 2012 All-Ireland Final.

That score finally gave Donegal a strong foothold in the game and they closed out proceedings efficiently in the remaining minutes.

As well another decent score line posted, the most striking number on Donegal’s side of the ledger was the seven yellow cards issued to them. Those cards, along with the black issued to Neil Gallagher, didn’t have a bearing on the final outcome and Barry Cassidy might well be a relieved man because of that. He undoubtedly would have come in for some stinging criticism had the home side been on the wrong side of the result such was his shortcomings.

Mayo’s first citizen recently called his people whingers but both sides were united in their moaning as the man in the middle was close to losing control of the game.

You can generally tell early on in a match how a referee will perform and whether or not they have a feel for the game; from the off, Cassidy’s decisions suggested he and the players were on different wavelengths. Mayo won two frees in the opening minutes following minimal contact in the tackle but their tactic of going to ground quickly earned dividends.

Donegal on the other hand appeared to be punished for their honesty; in their attempts to break that Mayo line of pressure, they kept pumping the legs looking to break tackles despite often being fouled in doing so. When the frees didn’t come, turnovers and a Mayo counter-attack was the usual consequence.

In isolation, each of the referee’s interpretations at either end of the field were legitimate but there was no consistency evident between one and the other and that’s what infuriates players and supporters alike. 

Eventually Donegal’s frustrations came to a head after the award of the penalty but they subsequently used their narkiness to good effect to change the picture on the scoreboard.

Much of Donegal’s fine play in the opening two matches was attributed to the young guns but yesterday some of the old warriors were key to dragging their side over the line. As well as Toye, the introduction of Anthony Thompson at half-time proved crucial. A steadying influence in defence, he also powered forward and carried the ball with purpose and intent.

Kavanagh in midfield produced a massive display and showed what a coup it is to have him back in the fold.

One man stood out clearly from the rest though and that was Paddy McGrath. As might be obvious at this stage, the standard of punditry on national media, particularly from state broadcaster, is somewhat of a pet hate with this writer. So it was a pleasant surprise that TG4 managed to restore some faith in the art of analysis by selecting Paddy McGrath as their man of the match yesterday.

In truth it was par for the course from the ever reliable Ardara dynamo; he’s one of those players, much like Denis Irwin in his pomp, who consistently performs well and often plays brilliantly. Paddy displayed his usual terrier-like instinct as a marker, carried the ball wonderfully and injected pace into countless Donegal attacks.

Unfortunately he wasn’t able to register a first ever league point despite his endeavour getting him into some scoreable positions. It is McGrath’s default setting to make the piercing run before laying off to a team-mate, as he did for Murphy’s glorious late point, but a bit of work on the training field with Karl Lacey and we might see the marauding corner-back adding the finishing touch to his own good work.

There was immense satisfaction around MacCumhaill Park at the final whistle, perhaps even a sense of 

smugness from the home contingent. It was an absorbing contest, you couldn’t take your eyes off it – quite literally for many a parent in attendance judging by the number of missing children announced over the loud speaker.

The net effect from yesterday in league terms is that Donegal have no worries about dropping to Division Two and barring a surprise will qualify for the semi-finals. More importantly though, the team laid down a psychological marker for the year by beating a fellow member of top the four.

Donegal sit on top of the table and what happens now is up to Rory Gallagher. Does he push on and challenge for a league title? Does he experiment with team selection and/or his game plan? Does he get the older panellists up to speed? Maybe it will be a case of all of the above. Either way, it’s a great position for the manager to be in as he prepares to pit his wits against the Kingdom next week in the land of Healy-Rae.

Dún na nGall Clear First Hurdle as Tyrone Tamed

The first hurdle has been cleared by Donegal and as was widely expected beforehand, Tyrone presented a huge challenge and pushed the home side all the way to the final whistle. The league encounter seven weeks ago left a false impression of Mickey Harte’s team – yesterday was a more accurate reflection of their qualities.

It was a big day for Rory Gallagher. His tenure as manager started well with good performances in the league and some tweaks to the system being implemented to good effect. Still though, it is all about Championship so he needed to get a win under his belt and he duly delivered.

A blistering start certainly helped with four excellent scores registered inside nine minutes. The opener came from Frank McGlynn, who was immense throughout. As well as getting on the score board himself he set up numerous others and his pass to tee up Martin McElhinney for his first point of a 1-2 tally was nothing short of audacious.

The visitors fought their way back into the game and turned a four point deficit into a two point lead. Aided and abetted by Darren McCurry’s goal, they moved up through the gears and caused the Donegal back line numerous problems with their strong direct running; Peter Harte particularly good in this regard.

While all this was going on, the crowd at MacCumhaill Park were more taken by the battle, or maybe staring match would be more descriptive, going on between Michael Murphy and Justin McMahon. Wherever Murphy went, McMahon was never more than a nose away. Every run was blocked, every jink obstructed and at one stage McMahon even gave Murphy a pat on his backside – this was up close and personal man marking like we’d never seen before. You wouldn’t have blamed Michael if he checked outside his front door in Glenswilly last night just to make sure the big man from Omagh hadn’t followed him home.

Despite the vexation amongst the Donegal support and the borderline nature of the intimidation, you have to begrudgingly admire McMahon’s concentration, discipline and doggedness to stick to his task. It is an extremely difficult thing to do on a football field, to completely ignore the ball and all that is happening around you. Michael deserves huge credit too as it would have been very easy to simply lash out in frustration but he kept his cool and bided his time before making a match winning contribution.

With the sides deadlocked entering the final act, Michael stepped up and landed the game’s final three points to seal the win. The last of this trio, an incredible 45 from the wrong side of the field for a right footed kicker, was a thing of beauty.

Even aside from his late flourish, Michael played a big part in the game’s vital score, McElhinney’s goal. Moments before, Rory gave the signal for Murphy to move into the square and such was McMahon and the rest of the Tyrone defence’s preoccupation with the Donegal captain, they left Odhran MacNiallais totally unmarked in front of goal. A great save from Tyrone debutant Mickey O’Neill followed but man of the match McElhinney was on hand to drill the loose ball to the corner of the net.

One more score was to follow before the short whistle with the evergreen Colm McFadden slotting over to secure a two-point lead. McFadden was asked to play a deeper role than usual yesterday and he did it wonderfully well. We had seen glimpses of this during the league but it was a surprise to see him undertake such a specialised duty in a big game. It worked and Rory deserves credit for making the call. It meant that Patrick McBrearty often played the lone target man and while he didn’t see as much ball as he would have liked, whenever it did come his way he made it count.

Tyrone, while putting up what Rory described as a massive performance, are obviously short a few players in order to be able to challenge for honours like they were able to a few years ago. This was highlighted with the inclusion of Cathal McShane and Ruairí Brennan from the start. Both had played starring roles in their county’s U21 All Ireland triumph at the start of the month but making the step up to senior is a different story.

McShane had featured in some of the league ties but he was thrown in at the deep end being pitted against a three-time All Star in the shape of Neil McGee and the Gaoth Dobhair man simply gobbled him up. There may have been more than a hint of relief for McShane when he saw his number come up on the board to indicate he was being withdrawn shortly after half-time.

The second half became more of an arm wrestle than the first, scores were at a premium and less risks taken by the teams. Another goal from either team would have been a huge score in that environment and Paul Durcan came up with a big save towards the end with the ball bobbling around the square in front of him. Durcan’s kick outs were solid throughout as well and it was an important day for the Four Masters net minder after his last Championship outing in September ended in such disappointment.

The bear pit that is Ulster football meant that yesterday was about winning and nothing else. It was encouraging though that the team put in an excellent display even without some lads playing to potential. Ryan McHugh and Paddy McGrath on the left side of the defence had relatively quiet games as did Martin O’Reilly and the elder McHugh, Mark, when he was introduced. 

So there’s plenty more in the team and in watching the substitutes warming up under the stand yesterday it shows the strength in the panel – Anthony Thompson was only introduced in the closing minutes while didn’t Hugh McFadden or Darach O'Connor didn’t see any action.

Donegal are in a good place right now. Rory is up and running as a Championship boss and most of his teams’ key men are in good form. Karl Lacey was outstanding, Christy Toye is aging like a fine wine while Neil Gallagher’s fetching is still one the game’s great sights.

It doesn’t get any easier with a trip to the Athletic Grounds in Armagh next up in four weeks but such is the nature of Ulster’s showpiece competition. It is as tough as it gets and it makes our recent record all the more impressive. Not since 2010 have Donegal been beaten in the Championship at Ballybofey and that day against Down was also the last time the team lost an opening round match in the province. The proud record of only losing one match in Ulster in four years will be severely tested by the Orchard men on June 14^th.

Point Gained for Dún na nGall after Joust with Royals

A second half revival inspired by Christy Toye earned Donegal a hard fought point in Ballybofey today and keeps the team out in front in the promotion race. After three relatively straight forward victories thus far, Jim McGuinness’ men were given a real test today and his side will be much the better for it heading into the final trio of games.

Meath manager Mick O’Dowd and his sidekick Trevor Giles deserve huge credit for the way they took the game to Donegal; the duo had clearly done their homework in the lead up to the game and the packed house at MacCumhaill Park were treated to a fascinating tactical battle. They looked at the well known aspects of the McGuinness system and figured how they could use it to their own benefit - the role of Mark McHugh is crucial to how Donegal play and immediately from the throw in Meath set about exploiting the space he vacates while on sweeper duties.

After some positional re-alignment, O’Dowd stationed Andrew Tormey as their free man, i.e. the man who McHugh would pick up in an orthodox line-up, and he saw plenty of ball in the opening quarter playing between half-back and midfield. Tormey was free for kickouts, picked up several breaks off his midfielders, Shane O’Rourke and Bryan Menton, and registered 0-2 in the first quarter. Cork tried a similar tactic in the All-Ireland semi-final of 2012 in an attempt to stifle McHugh’s influence when they played with five defenders and seven forwards - like today it worked for the early part of the game but on that occasion as we all know, once Donegal found their feet they had the measure of the Rebels; it wasn't quite as straight forward this afternoon.

On account of Meath effectively having an extra body at midfield, Paul Durcan struggled to find his players from his restarts and O'Dowd's men quickly ran up a healthy lead. When Durcan lined up his kick-outs in the first half what he saw was a mass of bodies directly in front him with Meath having pushed up on Donegal’s defence. This left a large section of space between the 45s and it was Meath who dominated here through their sheer size around the middle third - it wasn’t until Neil Gallagher was introduced that Donegal looked comfortable in that sector.

Meath have struggled over the past few weeks in the league but what we saw today wasn’t anything new - they demolished Dublin’s lauded kick-out strategy in last year’s Leinster Final and if they had had the legs on the day they could have claimed the trophy. Back then it was Stephen Cluxton who found the going tough in finding his men, today it was Durcan. In their dominant spell at the start of the game they stretched their lead out to 0-6 to 0-1 at one stage but Donegal didn’t panic and slowly reined the Royals back in.

One vital trait that Jim has instilled in his players during his tenure is belief and in a situation like they found themselves in today, it was clear that the players didn’t panic and instead they managed to think their way through the first half.

To get back into the game the onus was on the defenders to attack from deep; Durcan began to find his full and half back lines for short kick-outs and with possession won it was about carrying the ball through the Royal rearguard. Both McHughs did this with great diligence and effort and soon the chances came. Leo McLoone and Anthony Thompson relentlessly motored forward from their defensive posts while Neil McGee made a burst up from full back only to see his scoring effort drift wide of the posts. Frank McGlynn was next up and while the Glenfin star didn’t hit the crispest shot he’s ever let fly off his left boot, it deceived the giant Meath goalkeeper Paddy O’Rourke enough to nestle in the corner of the net – game on.

Meath responded with their own green flag in what was becoming an absorbing contest but Donegal kept their foot on the throttle and by half time had cut the lead down to a manageable two points.

It was after the break that Toye came storming into the game. At times it seemed like a one man fight back effort from the Creeslough native – he made numerous dispossessions, won turnovers, drove through the Meath defence and capped off his performance with a couple of points to boot. With the amount of turnovers Toye and his team-mates forced there really should have been more than the one Donegal goal to show on the scoreboard.

Donegal lost some of their urgency when Ryan McHugh went off after being shown a black card – it was the correct decision by referee Padraig Hughes although a first half body-check on the elder McHugh, Mark, should have also been punished with a black card but was let go – new rules, same inconsistency.

Mark had a fine afternoon overall and it was interesting to see that while Meath’s free man, Tormey, had emptied the tank and was taken off with ten minutes to go, the energy reserves of Donegal’s equivalent were still in credit and he was able to keep going right until the end.

McGuinness gave Darach O’Connor a real confidence boost by throwing him into the fray in the closing stages today and the Buncrana teenager showed great maturity when he went for the equalising score in the dying minutes. In no more than a yard of space he could have easily tried to recycle the ball and wait to give a team mate an opportunity but instead he took the responsibility on himself and was unlucky to see his shot come back off the post. At that stage it looked as if it was Meath’s day but there was to be one last chance and Michael Murphy struck a fantastic free from close to the sideline to gain a point for his charges. Despite it being ‘only’ a league game there was a fair bit of pressure on the free given the anticipation from the crowd and its proximity to the sideline made the kick even tougher; there was no doubt though in Michael’s mind where the ball was going - he trusted his technique and caught it beautifully to send it sailing through the posts.

The real negative from the game was Donegal’s inability to win primary ball from their restarts. We’ve seen already through the course of the McKenna Cup and the League that they’ve done quite a bit of work on this aspect of their play over the winter but there’s still plenty to do. Of course it’s nowhere near as big of a problem when Neil Gallagher is on the field. The Glenswilly man and another substitute David Walsh made huge impacts off the bench today and the sooner these lads, Gallagher in particular, are fit enough to last seventy minutes the better.

Had the hosts been a bit more clinical in the closing stretch they could have probably come away with full points but the bit of a scare will do them no harm. Teams generally like to have things to work on and facets of their game to improve upon – Donegal had been so untroubled in the opening matches it seemed that everything was going perfectly so a bit of a reality check at this stage can be seen as a positive. That is how Jim will be looking at it and after last week’s result in Croke Park and todays in Killarney, Jim Gavin and Mickey Harte will be thinking the exact same. Definitely a point gained today for Donegal and looking ahead to the summer, it could be worth a lot more.

Defiant Donegal Dismiss Tyrone

“Everything that happens to you in your life helps make you what you are today. Your past is your future.”

They were words uttered by Jim McGuinness last August – not that long ago but the thought process behind it seemed to have been lost in many people’s eyes in the build up to yesterdays totemic clash. Tyrone were the new kids on the block, the heir apparent to Donegal’s Ulster throne, primed for a raid on Ballybofey after an impressive league campaign and armed with an exciting array of new talent in their squad. One problem though – the recent past shows that Donegal are the best team in the country and after this display the future looks like mirroring that.

The Ulster Council’s decision to stage the game at MacCumhaill Park was rewarded with a feverish atmosphere and there’s a lot to be said in general for GAA matches being played in smaller venues with packed crowds. The old venue hadn’t seen a day like this in quite a while, probably going back to the Armagh game in 2007. The length of the traffic tailback approaching Stranorlar from the Letterkenny side has always been a good barometer over the years of the importance attached to a game. You’d always get a clear run in for McKenna cup games in January and even a league game wouldn’t be too bad as you were entranced by the sight of the giant floodlights in the distance. Yesterday though was blockbuster time, even before the minor game had thrown in there was a half a mile tailback approaching the T-junction before the twin towns and cars lining the road well before MacCumhaill Park came into view. It wasn’t quite knockout football but neither team could contemplate defeat.

Last year Mickey Harte felt his team weren’t good enough to take Donegal on and win, that was evident before throw in when Ryan McMenamin went straight to the edge of the square to take station as a sweeper (in his newspaper column last week he described his role that day as a defensive sweeper and at no time was he to push forward). This time around neither team played with an out and out sweeper to begin with, instead taking each other on in a deep lying counter attacking game of strategy.

As expected it was blood and thunder stuff from the outset, the ferocity of the shouldering on view was fantastic to see, none more so than the shuddering impact Stephen O'Neill felt when trying to level Neil McGee. The Tyrone sharp-shooter got a good run at McGee as he was about to lay off a hand pass and hit him with all he could muster but he just bounced off Donegal's full-back, who barely flinched.

Paddy McGrath was another who was flying into tackles and put his body on the line time and again. Paddy is a bit of an unsung hero on this team, going about his work in an unfussy manner; he was again magnificent yesterday, both in his defensive duties and in carrying the ball forward.

Tyrone took a while to find their feet but when they did they bossed the middle third and the hosts found primary possession hard to come by. In the last ten minutes or so of the opening half, Michael Murphy came out from his full forward position to try to stop the Red Hand momentum and it immediately paid dividends. With his team struggling to win possession, the captain steadied the ship and his positioning out the field proved even more advantageous as his long free into Paddy McBrearty led to Colm McFadden finding the net.

It wasn’t until the final league game that we saw signs of last year’s form coming back to McFadden but he led the line well yesterday in a composed display. He was outshone though by Kilcar’s McBrearty who brought real form into this game on the back of his U21 and club exploits and he had a huge bearing on the outcome. His neat touch down to McFadden was the mark of a class player and he showed his speed and skill to set up Ross Wherity for the second major later in the game.

The Donegal side-line was a busy place all afternoon; Rory Gallagher seems to put in as much running as the players on days like this with constant instructions being relayed to the troops. After everyone’s pre-match suspicions over the non-availability of Mark McHugh and Karl Lacey from the start were confirmed, Frank McGlynn was next to go and the strength of the panel was going to have its severest test. Many have questioned the quality in reserve but yesterday was hugely encouraging in that regard with Wherity, Martin McElhinney and Marty Reilly all making their mark when introduced while Lacey’s replacement Declan Walsh had a super game.

As always with McGuinness’ Donegal, the psychology of the game was vital. While it was widely anticipated that neither Lacey nor McHugh would start, the challenge was knowing when to introduce them. Lacey was warming up pretty much once the ball was thrown in and when he finally took off his jumper to reveal his No 6 jersey, Niall Morgan was just about to address the ball before another free. The stand in MacCumhaill Park erupted on seeing the Footballer of the Year and Morgan again fluffed his lines.

The Edendork youngster had a torrid afternoon. Hailed as the key difference as to why Tyrone had made up sufficient ground on Donegal after suffering two straight Ulster Championship defeats, he converted only one placed ball from six attempts and with every wide more confidence was drained out of the entire Red Hand team. Morgan didn’t help himself with his antics to the crowd after his sole score; no doubt he’s a confident young lad but he rubbed many of the home support up the wrong way and by the end of the game jubilant Donegal supporters took delight in ushering him forward to take the kicks; by the end he just stayed put.

Donegal felt they could put him under pressure and as with Enda Varley in last year’s decider there were blockers in front of the place kicker with Murphy running off to the side in his eye-line on one occasion just as the kick was to be struck.

The key moment of proceedings was the second goal and it made it a magical day for Ross Wherity. The Eunans man got quite a bit of game time in the national league and looked a good prospect for nailing a place as a key panel member. He missed a hatful of goal chances during that Division One campaign but he certainly picked his moment yesterday, finding the net with a deft touch from McBrearty’s cross.

The stats show Tyrone had plenty of chances, a lot of them ending in wides, but as with both the previous games in 2011 and 2012 many of these were kicked under pressure and weren’t gimmies by any manner of means. Donegal’s pressure cooker defence got to boiling point in the second half, keeping their opponents scoreless for thirty-two minutes.

While the visitors had bossed the midfield battle for a large part of the first half, they struggled there in the second and despite often having a free man on his own kick-outs Morgan continued to go long.

Morgan and many of his team-mates wilted under the strain placed on them in the second half; the Donnellys, Mark and Matthew, had impressive league campaigns but neither were able to stamp their authority on the game aside from that middle period in the opening half.

Even seasoned campaigners like Sean Cavanagh found the going tough and Tyrone lost all discipline and focus in the last quarter. Cavanagh was superbly marshalled by Eamon McGee for the seventy minutes as the Gaoth Dobhair man kept up his excellent form from the autumn. He was constantly in the Moy man’s ear as the verbals from both sets of players continued throughout the game.

Every free that was won, every kick missed, every score was re-inforced by letting the other side know what had just happened – it’s a side of the game these days that many don’t like but it just conveyed the ferocious intensity between both sets of players. It might not look like it at times but there does seem to be a genuine respect between the teams; Tyrone are the benchmark for Donegal, they won three All-Irelands and are quite rightly regarded as one of the great teams. That is the target for Donegal under McGuinness – greatness.

It was a procession for the home side late on with ‘Championes’ and ‘Jimmy's Winning Matches’ both getting renditions from the boisterous crowd by the banks of the Finn. It was a performance of character by Donegal yesterday, a real statement of intent.

Tyrone received most pundits’ nod for this game in what appeared a changing of the guard type prediction; this Donegal side though are relatively fresh, only entering their third campaign under McGuinness. He obviously feels there’s more to come from them and that he can find more in his players. Rory Kavanagh, another who had a fine game yesterday, spoke recently of not having played much football in his career to date. Even at 30, one of the elder statesmen of the panel, he believes there’s plenty more in him.

These are a hungry bunch of lads with a manager who can extract every last ounce of desire and ability in them; he can get the best out of them and he can get something out of them that they might not even know is there within themselves.

Analysts are using conventional wisdom to view this Donegal side but the last two years have shown us that Jim is anything but conventional – he’s a unique and special talent on the side-line.

A team with poor league form like Donegal’s against a team with hugely impressive form shouldn’t win so comprehensively – but they did. A team coming off a humiliating qualifier defeat in Crossmaglen shouldn’t win the All-Ireland two years later – but they did. Back to back All-Irelands are virtually impossible in the modern era so it shouldn’t happen – but it might.

Can Donegal break the mould? We’ll have to wait and see. If a team does beat us this year they will certainly have earned it and right now we remain the team to beat. Derry or Down will be next to try in four weeks time.