BY DÁIRE BONNAR
Donegal hurling manager Mickey McCann feels that Sunday’s win over Kerry is the biggest win the county has ever got in the sport.
A four point win in their first ever meeting with a Munster side was the outcome, with Donegal priced at 18/1, but the panel didn’t care for figures or odds as they stunned the Joe McDonagh side.
“We looked at that midweek and we thought it was a bit disrespectful to us,” McCann said after the game.
“Kerry would have been hot favourites but we’ve been looking forward to this game since the fixtures came out, a Munster team coming to Letterkenny and it was a game we targeted to get a performance out of.
“We saw their defence was there go be got at, their forwards have been doing damage but they conceded 2-28 against Kildare so there were question marks over their defence and we have a very fast forward line.”
Losing by six at the break, Donegal weren’t too disappointed as they had a strong wind to aid them in the second half.
And it showed as they hit three scores in the first half, two being goals, before hitting 3-13 in the second half.
“We probably overhurled the ball in the first half but against the breeze you have to and we took two or three too many passes but to go in at six down we were within touching distance because we thought it was about an eight point breeze.
“But I thought in the second half, we out hurled Kerry completely.
“Not one Kerry forward gave us that much bother, they were in and out of the game but our defenders came out on top. Then once Liam McKinney, Gerard Gilmore and Conor Gartland opened up, Brian MacIntyre from midfield, what an engine.
“The subs all worked today which is important because you’re working that hard but as results go, under my tenure at least, it’s by far the biggest result in Donegal hurling. We beat Down in 2018 in the league but to beat a Munster team is a serious moment for Donegal hurling and it’ll probably be a favourite for those boys, it’s a day they’ll never forget.
“Everyone came to this match to see Kerry play and maybe forgot that Donegal can play too and we knew we could step up.”
Donegal now sit on four points and are in a good position to stay in the division. Tyrone have zero points and are most likely to be relegated, but with two teams going down, at least another point will be needed from their final two games away to Kildare and home to Derry.
“It’s something we weren’t happy about with the change in structure for the league. You come up and you want a chance to find your feet when you step up a level. Meath beat us by a point after we were three or four up so we could have been sitting on six points after today in a division we were told we had no chance in.
“The Derry game is going to be interesting, I still think we’re going to have to get a draw out of that which will be tough.”
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