Dún na nGall Seal Swift Return to Division One

Job done for Donegal today in the Athletic Grounds – it wasn’t pretty at times but the bottom line is that they’re back in Division One next year and will also have a re-match with Monaghan to look forward to in three weeks’ time in the divisional final.

As per the McKenna Cup encounter between the teams in January, Charlie Vernon was given the onerous task of keeping tabs on Michael Murphy; Vernon was switched onto the totemic forward in place of Gary McCooey a few minutes into today's contest, in a bid to curb Murphy's influence after Donegal had stormed out of the blocks.

Murphy’s club-mate Neil Gallagher started today, a huge boost for the team as they look to bigger days ahead. He lasted about 50 minutes before being taken off as Jim McGuinness tries to gradually integrate him back into the side. If McGuinness can coax the same amount of time out of the big man in Celtic Park next month, he’ll be relatively happy. Gallagher is crucial to Donegal’s attempts to win primary possession and today he won several kick-outs, both clean and breaking ball for his team-mates. Paul Durcan’s restarts have been both bad and brilliant throughout the league but with Gallagher in the middle things seem so much easier. Mark McHugh was the man to make way before throw-in, the Kilcar man troubled with a hamstring problem, so Donegal in effect had a three-man midfield with Gallagher joined by Rory Kavanagh and Martin McElhinney.

Karl Lacey and Frank McGlynn immediately switched at the start of the game and Lacey had his best game of the campaign to date, looking like the rampaging half-back of old – hopefully he has timed his return to form to perfection with big games on the horizon. McGlynn also looked impressive today and his placement in the game with Derry will tell us a lot about Jim’s thinking. Centre forward Mark Lynch has been the standout performer for the Oakleaf men thus far and it is quite likely that Frank will be the one detailed to pick him up. With Leo McLoone more suited to playing a marauding centre back role as opposed to being given marking duties, McGlynn v Lynch seems the obvious match-up.

The visitors were in total control in the opening exchanges today, a penalty from Murphy putting them five points clear. Armagh eventually got motoring while Donegal seemed to stall somewhat, allowing the Orchard County back into the game. Jamie Clarke goaled after a piercing run through the middle and he followed up with an outrageous point from the wing – from this stage of the game until half-time the match descended into shutdown. Both teams were suddenly bereft of ideas and neither team could muster any sort of incision once they got inside the opponents 45. The awkward cross-field breeze didn’t help with wayward shooting a feature of both teams' play.

Aside from his five-minute cameo, Clarke was well marshalled by Neil McGee. The double all-star has been one of his team’s most consistent performers so far this year and no forward in the country would relish pitting their wits against him. McGee’s Gaoth Dobhair colleague Odhran MacNiallais did well again today but more from a defensive point of view as opposed to the promising attacking displays we’ve seen from him this year. Playing as a wing-forward, MacNiallais is learning game by game what is required of an inter-county player in that position; time and again today he was back helping his defenders, sweeping up ball and instigating attacks. His time spent at centre field with his club no doubt a huge aid in this sense.

Thankfully the fare improved after the break and it was Donegal who started to move through the gears. Just as the teams lined up for the second half, some Armagh followers in the stand were commenting on Murphy’s physique, cheekily inferring that ‘he must be on the juice’; whatever juice he is on is certainly doing the trick because soon after he got the game’s pivotal score, a trademark blistering finish to the net after fielding a high ball in from Kavanagh. The captain seemed to get away with a nudge in the back on his marker Vernon although the lack of protest from the Armagh Harps man suggested he was beaten in any case. While Murphy came out on top in their personal dual, it was a great battle between him and Vernon throughout.

From then on Donegal always had Armagh at arm’s length, picking off scores on the break whenever they were needed. The ferocious intensity and hunger that has been this team’s calling card was in evidence in the closing stages as time and again possession was ripped from on-rushing Armagh attackers and swarms of Donegal players raced forward en masse. The only negative was a black card incorrectly shown to substitute David Walsh; without doubt the Naomh Bríd clubman committed a foul but not one of the famous (maybe even infamous) five categories that are deemed as black card offences - a yellow card would have the right colour card.

Anthony Thompson was excellent in this closing period, as indeed he was for the entire game; the Naomh Conaill workhorse endured a torrid 2013 where he was never able to shake off niggling injuries and didn’t look 100% fit at any stage. This year though he’s been a constant in the team and in such flying form is a huge player for the side.

Patrick McBrearty was introduced for the final furlong and he picked off two delightful points to show that he is bang in form as he prepares to lead his county into the provincial U21 decider back here at the Athletic Grounds on Wednesday night.

For Armagh its relegation to Division Three and a far cry from the early part of the century when they were our nemesis for so long – five years in a row they beat Donegal in the Championship but next year they’ll be plying their trade in football’s third tier. They have to now lift themselves for an Ulster joust with Cavan, the team replacing them in Division Two.

McGuinness’ men now move onto Croke Park for a final with Monaghan where they will try, just as the hurlers did today in Sligo, to cap a good league campaign with some silverware.

Dún na nGall Too Good for Wee County

After only securing one point from the last four on offer, Donegal got back on the promotion track today with a relatively straight forward win - but they did make life hard for themselves in the second half in Ballyshannon.

Having started the two previous games against Meath and Down sluggishly, today Jim McGuinness’ men were quick out of the traps and made a blistering start, out-scoring their opponents by 0-6 to 0-1 early on and this was pushed out  as far as 0-12 to 0-1.

Louth were only out on the field a couple of minutes before throw-in and they were extremely slow to settle once the ball was thrown in. In their pre-match warm up half an hour earlier, it was strange seeing them play small-sided games with kids-sized footballs – Donegal at the other end of the field stuck to the size fives and it showed in the first quarter with fine scores taken from Dermot Molloy and Declan Walsh amongst others.

Molloy only just passed a fitness test moments before throw-in, having tweaked ligaments in his ankle in the game in Newry. Neil Gallagher didn’t make the Donegal starting line-up – he picked up a muscle strain in action for Glenswilly last weekend – although Louth had their own version playing in goal; he was a busy man with kick-outs as the home side swarmed forward at every opportunity, determined to post a big score.

Jim had been annoyed with his troops’ lack of economy in front of the posts in their last match and with two shooting drills finding their way into the warm-up routine, it was clear that they meant business in this facet of their play. Today his side managed more points in the first half (0-13) than they had managed in the entirety of either of the last two games.

With Martin McElhinney unable to start and Gallagher not fit to come in as a direct swap, it was left to Christy Toye to line up alongside Rory Kavanagh in the engine room. Both players put in excellent displays with Kavanagh the best man on show. His fielding, surging runs forward and finishing ability make him such a good all-rounder and we saw a vintage performance today from the Eunan’s man.

It is a huge credit to Toye that he has the fitness and conditioning to be able to undertake a midfield role having been on the sidelines for so long; he, just like his sidekick Kavanagh, registered a brace of points in the opening period.

Aside from the absence of the emigrated Ryan Bradley, few would have thought there would be much change to the Donegal championhsip starting fifteen from last year to this. As we near the end of the league though Toye, Ryan McHugh and Odhran MacNiallais would appear to have secured their starting jerseys for the Celtic Park showdown and that turnover of players is crucial for the panel this year.

McHugh came on for the second half of the game while his U-21 captain, Patrick McBrearty, started in attack; both men will be vital to Donegal’s attempt to get back into another provincial final on Wednesday night.

Back to today and the visitors simply had no answer to Donegal’s running game in the early stages and had only a single point to show for almost the entire first half. They picked up two black cards in their attempts to stop the Donegal waves of attack and only a late goal put some semblance of respectability on the half-time scoreboard. It was a crazy decision to let the goal stand though, with Paul Durcan being clattered as he rose to claim a high ball into his square and the Four Masters man should have been given a free out.

The next phase of the game will not have pleased neither supporters nor management. Donegal seemed to canter through the third quarter and over elaborated in attack, not taking scores when they were on. The Wee County made them pay for this with two quick fire goals and an earlier free - suddenly the gap had gone from ten points to just three. This awoke the hosts from their slumber though and they replied with a major of their own – a thunderous finish to the roof of the net from substitute David Walsh after neat link up play to fashion the chance. It was a sign of the annoyance running through the team at their own sloppiness in the preceding period as any one of Molloy, the younger McHugh or Colm McFadden could have popped the ball over for a point but it was a goal they wanted.

Louth kept plugging away and the movement and sharpness of their full forward line was causing problems for Donegal’s last line. The absence of old fashioned markers like Paddy McGrath, Frank McGlynn and Karl Lacey, who was taken off at half time, exposes this full-back line. Regardless of defensive templates and blanket systems, teams still need to have a few specialist defenders who can mark their man and be out in front of the ball; Neil McGee apart that was lacking at times today.

Overall though the objective was to get two more points and that is exactly what Donegal did -  themselves and Monaghan are out in front of the chasing pack so a draw next week in the Athletic Grounds will secure promotion and a league final place but depending on other results they may well have done enough already. An additional league outing, on the best sod in the country on Jones Road, would be welcome as it would help in getting the likes of Neil Gallagher and Paddy McGrath closer to full fitness ahead of the Derry game. That is why Donegal won’t want to rely on other results to secure their passage so it’ll be full tilt for a win next Sunday against Armagh.

Below Par Donegal Defeated by Down

While last week’s patchy performance against Meath was generally viewed as a welcome eye-opener for Donegal, today’s against Down suggests that Jim McGuinness’ men have some serious work ahead of them if they’re to slay the Oak Leaf County on May 25^th. The anticipated response following the game in Ballybofey on Sunday last did not materialise in Pairc Esler and instead the county’s followers are left with more questions than answers.

In some ways it is tricky to judge today’s game by comparing the teams as in truth neither side looked in any way impressive in what was a scrappy, error-strewn affair. The blustery conditions led to both teams over and under hitting passes and you wouldn’t have guessed that these sides contested the provincial championship showpiece less than two years ago. Down looked dangerous early on and scythed through Donegal’s unusually porous central channel for some easy scores. They had a few half-goal chances in the opening exchanges and when Niall Madine finally did register a major, it would prove to be the game’s crucial score as they never relinquished the lead it gave them.

The main problem again today was the kick-out and it really is becoming a serious worry as we look ahead to Championship 2014. Again Donegal tried to create a large gap for their midfielders with even more emphasis being put on the defenders in creating that space. Corner backs Karl Lacey and Eamonn McGee were instructed to stay tight to the touchline on Paul Durcan’s kickouts – this either meant they were an option for short kick-outs on any occasion they weren’t picked up by their marker or it left the centre of the field largely free for Martin McElhinney and Rory Kavanagh. The problem is that Donegal without Neil Gallagher are severely depleted under their own restarts - and teams know this. Therefore opponents are happy to close off those potential short kick-outs and force Durcan to kick long. We saw it in the first half in particular today and of course we saw it to devastating effect in last year’s Mayo massacre when a far from fit Gallagher was dominated by an inspired Aidan O’Shea.

With Down on top in the middle and gaining primary ball, they ran at Donegal with Mark Poland especially causing numerous problems. Poland is one of the classiest footballers in the country and he is very difficult to tackle such is his small stature and low centre of gravity. Leo McLoone at centre back tried to get forward as much as possible in an attempt to drag the Longstone clubman away from his centre-forward station and to limit his effect on the game; it was to no avail however and instead it led to space for Poland and his team mates to exploit and this they did. Frank McGlynn took over marking duties for parts of the second half and did have a bit more success but the conundrum remained largely unsolved.

Kevin McKernan and Peter Turley were excellent at midfield, providing power and physicality while the hosts’ defence did well on sharpshooters Michael Murphy and Colm McFadden. In contrast to Donegal’s tactic of a roaming centre back, Down’s Aidan Carr held his position and acted as a screen in front of his full back line, particularly in the second half when the wind-assisted Donegal played a more direct game.

Much was made last year of Down referencing the McGuinness template in the Ulster semi-final between the teams at Breffni Park and in particular the defensive aspects of it. On today’s showing it appears that they have now subsumed the entire portfolio with their much-improved attacking play and ability to commit more numbers to breaks a measure of their evolution.

In spite of the erratic nature of today’s display, Donegal could easily have won the game such was the amount of chances wasted both before and after the short whistle – they recorded twelve wides in all. Corner forward McFadden was guilty of two poor misses from frees and his style of getting height on the ball is a risky one when the breeze is as strong as it was today; on both occasions the wind carried the ball to the right and wide on his own side, the cardinal sin for a free taker.

McLoone had a bit more freedom after the break and was one of the few Donegal players who could be satisfied with their performance. He notched one wonderful point when he showed great intelligence by opting to flick the ball past an on-rushing Mourne defender instead of trying to gain possession immediately and being swallowed up in the tackle - he collected the ball on the other side and stroked over.

That had come after a fine score by Martin McElhinney as Donegal started the second half with much more intent and purpose in their play. McElhinney was excellent throughout and bar one bad miss in front of the posts he performed admirably for his side throughout. With the current problems the team is experiencing around the middle third it would be no surprise to see Gallagher return alongside the current midfield pairing as opposed to replacing one of them, with Kavanagh or McElhinney possibly lining out at wing forward.

The cavalry arrived in the form of Gallagher, Patrick McBrearty and David Walsh but even they couldn’t change the direction of the game and McCartan’s charges saw it out with two points to spare.

It certainly isn’t a time for panic in the ranks or anything of that nature but there needs to be signs of improvement in the remaining two league games to show that the solutions to the problems that have arisen in the past week are working. It may well be three games with promotion chances and a subsequent divisional final spot still looking likely; bottom side Louth the next visitors to the North West. It is ironic though that it was this very same weekend last year, on St Patrick’s weekend, where the first cracks began to emerge. On the Saturday night in Pairc Ui Rinn in Cork, Donegal’s second half performance was light years away from the heights they had reached the previous summer. A week later we saw a similar show in Castlebar with Mayo deserving winners following another poor exhibition from the men in green and gold. The next few weeks will go a long way in telling us what 2014 holds in store.

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.

Donegal Young Guns Shoot Down Monaghan

Its three from three for Donegal in the league and with Jim McGuinness’ men leading the standings, the young leaders on the field of play are making a big impression. Odhran MacNiallais and Ryan McHugh were the stars of the show today as the home team got some measure of revenge against Monaghan for the Ulster Final reverse in Clones last July.

MacNiallais got the capacity crowd to their feet early on with a blistering goal; his presence of mind and spatial awareness created the chance and he finished with aplomb. Receiving the ball forty yards from goal, the boisterous Letterkenny support were encouraging him to shoot for a point but he saw space in behind the Monaghan rearguard and once he got past the first tackler with a devastating change of pace, he drove straight for the whites of Rory Beggan’s eyes in goal. The Gaoth Dobhair man added to his tally soon after with a point off that trusty left peg and added a further two scores in the second half to put the seal on a wonderful individual display. He also managed a sublime assist with a cushioned volleyed pass to set substitute Declan Walsh up for the game’s last point. The more we see of MacNiallais, the more he looks like a starter for the big one in Celtic Park on May 25^th.

Ryan McHugh picked up from where he left off in Salthill three weeks ago, producing another excellent performance both in defence and attack. He made the incisive burst to set Dermot Molloy away in the lead up to the second goal, eventually finished to the net by Colm McFadden. McHugh looked a little out of place during last year’s championship due to his diminutive frame but he’s obviously put in the hard work in the gym since and is well able for the cut and thrust of top level football.

Of course the old guard are still making a huge contribution and today was a big test of Jim’s defensive alignment as regards the positioning of Karl Lacey. A centre back for the most part in the McGuinness era, it looks as if he will spend most of his time in the last line of defence this year. Having been assigned marking duties on one of the country's leading attackers, Conor McManus, today was a good test to see how Lacey is faring back in his former No 2 jersey. While McManus was out in front quite a bit in the first half he rarely got past the Four Masters man and as the game wore on the battle pendulum swung towards Lacey. He produced a brilliant saving block on the goal-line towards the end of the match and thus earned his side a second successive clean sheet.

With McManus engaged in his battle with Lacey, attention turned to Monaghan’s newest sharp shooter, Jack McCarron. A nephew of the famous Ray, McCarron has a had a fine season to date and while not as prolific today he did show some glimpses of his talent, the highlight an exquisite point from the wing, kicking across the ball with his favoured left foot and gliding it over Paul Durcan’s crossbar.

Around the middle, the powerhouse displays of Martin McElhinney and Rory Kavanagh gave Donegal an excellent platform in the first half and despite leading by six points at half time there was a sense that it should have been even more. Kieran Hughes, the man who tormented the green and gold defence from full forward in last year’s provincial decider, came more into the game in the second half at midfield. It took until the last ten minutes for the hosts to shake off the stubborn Monaghan resistance; Paddy McBrearty’s brace after coming off the bench ensuring there’d be no comeback mounted from the Farney men.

Referee Barry Cassidy did his bit in keeping Monaghan in the game with some questionable decisions while he also awarded a yellow card instead of a black to Colin Walshe, after he deliberately dragged down MacNiallais. The Donegal players in general were unhappy with Cassidy, particularly when a high challenge on McHugh went unpunished, with Michael Murphy receiving a yellow for his protestations. Murphy was a bit out of sorts today with both he and Frank McGlynn guilty of some poor distribution.

With six points on the board, Donegal are well on their way to promotion and to a league final appearance at Headquarters. Two more wins out their four remaining games should seal the deal but Jim will want to get those victories recorded as quickly as possible so as to allow him to continue re-integrating the likes of McBrearty, Neil Gallagher and the soon to be returning Paddy McGrath and David Walsh into match action and get them up to speed.

A stuttering Meath side are the next visitors to the North West with Mac Cumhaill Park playing to host to that clash on Sunday next.

Donegal Dismiss Troubled Tribesmen

For the second week in succession Donegal steamrolled inferior opposition and they already look far too good for Division Two football. While the swagger present in Portlaoise last week wasn’t quite as obvious today, Jim McGuinness’ men were proficient in how they went about their business and bagged another pair of league points in the process.

Even before the ball was thrown in, the gulf in class and gap in professionalism of both teams was evident. The Donegal players arrived out on the field at Pearse Stadium forty minutes before throw-in to undergo their warm up routine - and they all looked the part decked out in their newly acquired O’Neills gear. Their drills had already been set up, cones laid out and the players went about their work before retreating to the dressing room for final words from their mentors. Galway on the other hand, only took the field twenty minutes before the start of the game and their preparation lacked the efficiency and organisation of their counterparts.A few handling errors by his men in the drills had McGuinness barking orders and demanding more of his troops. At the other end the hosts looked liked they had come for a training session.

When the action got underway, Donegal adapted to the conditions better and implemented their running game whilst playing against the strong breeze blowing in from the Promenade in Salthill. Galway, despite having the stiff wind at their backs, were reluctant to shoot from distance and they made hard work of the scores that came their way.

Once Colm McFadden goaled after a quarter of an hour, following a wonderful sweeping move that started in the opposite corner of the field, it gave his team a cushion that was never going to be threatened. Donegal’s play was patient, smart and precise – they were quite happy to take numerous passes before the correct run was made and then they attacked the central channel of the home defence.

Having only passed a pitch inspection this morning, the recent wet weather left the sod extremely soft today and both teams will be feeling it in their legs tonight. The state of the pitch made it particularly difficult for the forwards – several times decent passes were played in front of them but with little or no bounce off the soft turf many of these were spilt and ended up in the hands of defenders.

They stuck at it though and the starting full-forward line of McFadden, Michael Murphy and Dermot Molloy posted 1-10 of the 1-16 Donegal total. Add in Patrick McBrearty’s three fine points from play after his introduction from the bench and there is real quality in Donegal’s forward play right now. They’re all playing with confidence, evidenced by McFadden’s audacious effort to lob the Galway netminder Manus Breathnach after he left his goal unguarded in coming out to intercept a pass destined for Captain Murphy.

There’s plenty of confidence amongst the supporters at present too, with a huge Donegal faithful in attendance today and indeed at times it seemed as if we outnumbered the locals.

While Donegal got a lot of joy from attacking centrally, there was no such luck for Galway going in the opposite direction as they met Leo McLoone putting in a masterclass at centre-back. He was as solid as a rock for the seventy minutes, breaking up plenty of opposition attacks and getting forward when the chance arose as well. Pound for pound he’s one of the squad’s leading ball players and appears to have made the number six jersey his own with Karl Lacey being used in the full-back line of late. Lacey was initially given marking duties on James Kavanagh, the former Kildare star who transferred to the maroon and white this year. Kavanagh though dropped deep and played much of the game at midfield, a strange call by the management given his prowess in front of the posts.

Donegal’s other corner back, Ryan McHugh, had a good day at the office and is certainly stating his case for inclusion come the summer. His burst of pace and economy while in possession make him a solid option for numerous positions on the field and showed he can score too, firing over early in the second period.

Another who impressed was Martin McElhinney, who played at midfield partnering Rory Kavanagh in the middle in the first half and then the returning Neil Gallagher in the second. McElhinney’s strong, direct running has always been a big part of his game but his primary ball winning ability is improving with every outing and his all-round game today was excellent.

With the likes of McElhinney,the aforementioned McHugh and half forward Odhrán MacNiallais all revelling in their starting roles, the league is already proving very useful for the team as regards improving the strength of the squad. That will be tested in three weeks time when Donegal face into what will most likely be the toughest game in the division as Ulster Champions Monaghan come to O’Donnell Park. There will certainly be a bit of spice in that one after the events in Clones last July and at this rate it might well be a dress rehearsal for a league decider in Croke Park come April.

While Donegal’s start has been nothing but impressive, the visit of the Farney men will tell us a lot about how the team is shaping up and will be a more accurate barometer of what awaits over the course of the year.

Laois no Match for Ruthless Donegal

An emphatic Donegal put Laois to the sword this afternoon and in the process made it very clear that they intend to keep their stay in Division Two to one season. Despite the hosts looking clueless at times and unwilling to work as hard as their opponents, this was still a mightily impressive display from Jim McGuinness’ charges.

Particular pleasing was how they kept their foot on the throttle long after the result and the two league points had been secured. The game was effectively over just after the restart, thanks to Colm McFadden’s goal, but he and his team mates posted 0-13 in the remainder of the match.

The hosts started reasonably well and indeed may have come into this encounter thinking that there was a chance of an upset given that they frustrated Donegal for long periods the last time the sides met, in Carrick-on-Shannon last July. That was under previous manager Justin McNulty and while his spell wouldn’t be termed a success amongst the Laois faithful, he did make his team hard to beat. 

Now Tomas O’Flaharta has taken the reins with a stated mandate to bring positive football back to the O’Moore County - he has his work cut out going on today’s evidence. His team disappointed both from attacking and defensive perspectives; on numerous occasions in the opening period, Donegal created overlaps and were presented with four-on-three and five-on-three situations as the home defence looked a mess.

Odhran MacNiallais’ goal came from one such opportunity with Anthony Thompson making the incisive run from defence and after neat passing the Gaoth Dobhair man was on hand to palm the ball to the net. Even at that stage, the writing was on the wall for Laois.

Thompson was joined in many a raid forward by Neil McGee and Karl Lacey - both were operating in the full back line but bombed forward at will. Laois’ inability to cover the piercing runs from deep proved to be their downfall. It may be an unglamorous brief for a forward to track attacking forays from their markers but in the modern game it’s a must. With the runs not covered it led to some easy scoring chances for Donegal - almost all of their first half scores were from simple chances inside the 21-yard line.

The exceptions came from the right boot of Michael Murphy; firstly he nailed a 45' into the teeth of the wind and moments later he stroked over an absolutely majestic point. With Murphy having to stoop to collect an ever so slightly under hit pass, Frank McGlynn made a run off the shoulder for his captain - it seemed easier to offload to the marauding wing-back but instead Michael dummied to handpass and with his marker, along with everyone else in O’Moore Park, buying the dummy he split the posts from forty yards. He repeated the dummy trick late in the game to nonchalantly register his second score from play (and sixth in total), this time off his left peg.

Christy Toye came into the starting line-up before the throw-in in place of the hamstrung Darach O’Connor and he had a fine game operating at centre forward. He’s still as good as any at picking a pass and he distributed wonderfully throughout his time on the field, which was cut short after suffering a nasty gash to his face.

Another who has had his share of injury trouble is Mark McHugh but he looked back to his best today, covering the ground like only he can. He was in the thick of things at both ends of the field and got his name on the score sheet in the closing procession. He also shipped a ferocious hit after a frontal charge in the incident that led to Laois’ Denis Booth being shown a red card. Despite the lead being enjoyed by Donegal at the time, his team-mates were incensed at the challenge and weren’t slow in making their feelings known to Booth and his counterparts.

The younger McHugh, Ryan, played at corner back and acquitted himself well and it is an area that the team could do with some competition for places. Paddy McGrath is still a number of weeks away from seeing some action so its likely we'll see some more experimenting in the 2 and 4 jerseys in the next few games.

Debutant Hughie McFadden certainly put his hand up for some more game-time, scoring a brace of points after joining the action in the second half. McFadden was one of the stars of last year’s county championship, playing an integral role in Kilybegs’ march to the final. He can operate around midfield or on the edge of the square so it will be interesting to see how he develops in a senior jersey over the coming months.

Having two away fixtures to start with, Donegal knew a win or two from those would put them in pole position for promotion. They made a big statement today and the other teams won’t relish taking on the McGuinness juggernaut when its in this kind of form. Galway are next up in Salthill next weekend and after their defeat to Meath today they wont be looking forward to seeing another team in green and gold.