It proved to be a disappointing week for the Donegal county teams.
Our senior side were shocked by Down, while our Under 20s lost to Tyrone and the minor footballers were beaten the previous weekend by Cavan.
The Donegal ladies were second best against Armagh, while the Donegal hurlers who had been motoring well went down against Derry.
Many were hoping that a trip to Clones would be on the agenda this Sunday.
Unfortunately in sport, you get weeks when things just don’t go to plan.
Donegal supporters have enjoyed two great years and there will be more bright days down the line but it will be a quiet May.
Going into the Championship, Donegal were in a good spot and a lot of people were tipping them to win a third Ulster title in-a-row after a strong league but Down managed to upset the odds.
I was there myself with Donegal in 2020 when we were going for our third Ulster on the spin and were heavy favourites against Cavan.
You were thinking everything was going well and then on the day, you don’t quite hit your usual level and you come up against a hungry team that takes advantage.
You have to give credit to Down. They didn’t have many supporters in O’Donnell Park and I didn’t hear anyone tip them to win but they had belief in their own camp.
And they got huge performances from their leaders.
Odhran Murdock was outstanding and really elevated himself to one of the top midfielders in the country with his display.
Daniel Guinness got through a mountain of work and scored a great goal while Ceilum Doherty won break after break.
Ronan Burns also showcased his quality with his short to mid-range kick-outs.
The vast majority went to his left side and people might say Donegal should have got to grips with it, but that can be easier said than done on an energy-zapping warm day, and Down’s movement and decoy runs were super.
I don’t think the away side had any efforts that dropped short while they were only turned over a couple of times.
In contrast, Donegal lost ball in the tackle much more than they usually would, and they hit the post three times.
They made a good start but didn’t put the dominance on the board, and while they did battle well back in the third quarter, Down were able to push on again.
The Donegal subs worked hard when they came on but it was hard to make an impact as Down dominated the ball when it really mattered.
Once again, Michael Murphy showed huge leadership. There was the catch and lay-off to Oisin Gallen for his goal chance, some fine frees while his fielding was also excellent.
Down didn’t take a backward step and you have to say they deserved their win on the day.
It’s been a good season for Donegal so far but they just have to accept defeat and go again.
And to be honest, in the long run, I think the break might work for them.
Yes the players would have wanted another Ulster title but you have to invest a huge amount to get to the Anglo Celt Cup.
It will be interesting to see where the draw takes Donegal but they have quality and hopefully Ciaran Moore, Daire Ó Baoill and Oisin Gallen can build up their fitness.
Michael Langan will also hopefully be back in the mix.
He is Donegal’s joint-captain and for me, he’s probably as important to Donegal as David Clifford is to Kerry.
Any day that you don’t have Michael available, you will miss him.
The Ulster Championship has served Donegal well over the last 15 years but it’s time to sit back in the long grass now and get ready for the All-Ireland Series.
While it didn’t go to plan, I think the St Eunan’s club should be commended for all the work they put in and O’Donnell Park looked great on the day.
Under 20s
The Donegal Under 20 football team lost out against Tyrone in their semi-final last Wednesday.
It’s funny how it goes. Donegal and Armagh won all their group games but Tyrone and Monaghan, who both lost two matches each, went on to reach the final.
I was disappointed for Gary and the team because they have a good squad of players and a lot of work went in.
They totally dominated the first half. Tyrone were turned over when they attacked and Donegal were excellent in the aerial exchanges.
However, they didn’t turn their dominance into scores.
They could and should have been 12 or 13 points ahead at half-time but it was only seven.
In fairness to Tyrone, they lifted it in the second half and they kicked the two-pointers they needed.
It’s frustrating for the Under 20s because that’s two years in-a-row that they could have beaten Tyrone but didn’t manage it. I still think there’s plenty of talent in that team and players who are capable of stepping up to senior level but 15 wides cost them last week.
Fermanagh
After watching the Donegal Under 20 game, you could see the importance of being efficient in front of the posts but unfortunately we suffered a similar fate with Fermanagh against Armagh.
I thought we did well on kick-outs and had as much possession as they had in the first half.
We were able to create chances but we just weren’t clinical enough.
We were 14 down at half-time and that was after kicking nine wides and dropping five short.
Armagh counter-attacked from those balls that didn’t go dead and kicked points themselves and that’s what the top sides will do to you.
We just left ourselves with too much to do and while we managed to score 1-20 in the second half, we were still well beaten.
Fermanagh now go into the Tailteann Cup and there’s no big break for us. We will face Longford on Sunday week.
We were back at training on Tuesday night and hopefully we can improve on where we went wrong in Brewster Park.
While Armagh were worthy winners, I probably thought leaving Enniskillen that Donegal would cause them trouble considering how many scoring chances we created.
However, it’s not Donegal that they will play in the semi-final and instead it will be Down.
It should be a good game and two years ago, Armagh needed a last-gasp point from Jason Duffy to beat them.
If Conor Laverty can get his team going again and bring the same energy and intensity, I think they stand a good chance.
However, with only one week of a turnaround, I think it’s going to be very hard both mentally and physically to get back to the same level.
With that in mind, I think Armagh will probably come through.
Derry take on Monaghan in the other semi-final and I don’t think this is the foregone conclusion that some will put it down as.
Monaghan have good players but they will need the likes of Rory Beggan, Stephen O’Hanlon, Dessie Ward and Conor McCarthy to really be on it.
Derry have been going well and I think they will sense a real opportunity. I think they will come through but it could be tight.
Looking at the Leinster semi-finals, it would be great for Mark McHugh if he could guide Westmeath to another big win after taking out Meath.
However, Luke Loughlin’s hamstring issue might just give Kildare the edge.
Louth and Dublin should be a good tussle and the talk is that Con O’Callaghan will miss out.
The Wee county will fancy their chances and they might just have enough to win this tie.