BY MATTHEW WILSON
DONEGAL senior hurling manager Mickey McCann is expecting a fierce test when his side travel to Wicklow for this Saturday’s National Hurling League Division 3 Final.
Donegal sealed promotion and a place in this weekend’s decider courtesy of a ten-point victory over Roscommon at Dr Hyde Park last Saturday afternoon.
Having lost out to Wicklow in their previous encounter, it was a must win game for Mickey McCann’s men if they were to regain their place in Division 2.
However, the pressure of the occasion didn’t affect them as they performed excellently away from home and secured the win which the Donegal boss was pleased with.
“It was great to go down there and get the victory, especially when you knew that it was a day where you had to win to get promoted.
“The pressure was on us and it was good to perform in those circumstances, it’s always a good sign.
“We had a poor day out against Wicklow the previous day. We wanted to bounce back and we did, thank God.
“The main objective was to get promoted again up to Division 2. We’ve done that now so whatever way the final goes now, we’ll still be happy with how the league went for us.”
Suffering just one defeat from their six league outings this season, Donegal will be content with their efforts throughout the competition.
As well as managing these positive results, McCann has also unearthed a number of young talents who have stepped up to the plate for the side so far this season.
Players such as corner-back Donal Farrelly and corner-forward John Kealy have been regular starters for Donegal this year while Sean MacCumhaills clubman Dan Donnelly has been making his mark throughout the league also.
Having lost the services of a number of starting members of the team over the last few seasons, McCann expressed that integrating fresh faces each term is required and is happy with how they’re performing.
“Over the last number of years we’ve lost six or seven players that have been guaranteed starters. We’ve replaced them and we’ve had two or three finds again this year.
“You’ve Donal Farrelly, John Kealy and Dan Donnelly all stepping into a spot and we trust them to put them in there.
“That’s what it’s all about, getting two or three new finds every year, and we seem to be doing that so the panel is fairly strong.”
The addition of these young individuals has had a good impact on the entire Donegal squad, with more players now battling it out for the 15 starting places.
The rise in competition has served McCann’s side well as the players being introduced from the bench are making their mark when they are called upon.
Donegal have lost two key players in the form of Gerard Gilmore and Conor Gartland in their last two games through injury, their squad depth will now be called upon to fill this void.
“Exactly and our subs added a lot when they came in on Saturday. We were working hard and the boys were tired so we brought in fresh legs which saw the game out for us.
“You need strength and depth. Conor Gartland is out until the end of the Christy Ring if he gets back on time for the last two games. We don’t know yet with his broken hand.
“Gerard Gilmore came off the last day with a hand injury and won’t be fit this weekend either so that’s where you need the young boys.
“It’s two big losses for us but we’ll have to trust the lads that are coming to take their place.”
With promotion to the second tier now in the bag, Donegal now have a league final to look forward to this Saturday afternoon when they make the trip to Aughrim.
With Donegal and Wicklow locked on 10 points each, the Garden County’s victory over McCann’s outfit at O’Donnell Park provides them with home advantage due to the head-to-head rule.
The Burt native feels that the home advantage will serve Wicklow well but states that they’ll make the long trip this weekend and give it their all.
“It seems that we’re playing well away from home this year, we’ve beaten Wicklow down there before.
“I feel that it’s a bit of an advantage to them. A league final should probably be on neutral grounds. Both teams ended on level points and the head-to-head record gets them home advantage.
“If you look at the football finals, they’re all in Croke Park. A final is a big advantage to get at home.
“We’ll go down there, empty the tank and see where we’re at. If it’s good enough then that’s fine and if not then we’ll still be happy enough with our league and we’ll move into the championship.”
With a piece of silverware on the line, the stakes are always higher and this’ll be no different when Donegal and Wicklow take to the field this weekend.
A National League medal is one that every player would relish to have in their back pocket and would mean a great deal to the young players that have come into the squad this term.
Speaking to the Donegal News, this is something that McCann was in agreement with but understands the challenge that lies ahead of
his side in this Saturday’s showpiece.
“It definitely would. A lot of these lads have come through the underage setups and won very little. To come in and get a National league medal in their first year would be lovely for them.
“But we’ve a massive task ahead of us. We’ll have to bring more
than we did the last day against Wicklow to be fair, they’re a physical team.
“If we get going then I think we’ll be in with a shout but you have to turn up on the day. A piece of silverware will be nice but it’s not the be all and end all if we don’t.”