Donegal look to be in a good place as the league season begins on Saturday evening against Dublin.
They played three games in six days but came away with three wins.
The match against Derry was a real good contest and Donegal were excellent in the second half.
And I was impressed with how they bossed the McKenna Cup final with Monaghan.
It’s still pre-season so I can’t imagine anyone is getting too excited.
However, young players such as Shea Malone, Max Campbell, Turlough Carr, Kevin Muldoon and Conor McCahill have really acquitted themselves very well.
It’s possibly a sign-post towards the future and there’s more talent coming in Donegal along with those lads.
The question for the management is are any of them ready for the here and the now?
Finnbarr Roarty made a great impression last year as a 19-year-old and I’m sure Jim would love it if another youngster or two could make the kind of progress that he did.
I’d imagine there will be a few debuts handed out in the capital this weekend but there won’t be wholesale ones.
The likes of Roarty, Caolan McColgan, Eoghan ‘Ban’ Gallagher, Ryan McHugh and Jason McGee were all subs against Monaghan while Ciaran Moore and Daire Ó Baoill were rested.
The management might hold back one or two for impact if they aren’t quite at 100% yet but I’d imagine the rest will be in the starting team.
There might be a spot up for grabs in defence and it will be interesting to see the make-up of the forward line.
It looks like Jason McGee might start there and rotate out and you’ll have Ó Baoill, Moore, Shane O’Donnell and Conor O’Donnell.
Turlough Carr has been excellent and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s thrown in at HQ where there’s going to be plenty of space to work with.
Or they may need more of an inside man and that could open the door for Shea Malone, who knows how to finish.
Donegal do look strong at midfield with the in-form Hugh McFadden and Michael Langan, and Kieran Gallagher will likely be given a chance as well at some stage.
All in all, I’d expect Jim to field a strong side but there’s uncertainty over what kind of Dublin team they will be facing.
In many ways the Dublin manager’s position is a bit like the Manchester United job.
There’s going to be huge pressure and scrutiny and the easiest way to avoid that is by winning games.
Dublin are probably in a bit of transition but Brennan will want to get points on the board early.
Donegal will be thinking the same. MacCumhaill Park is not available and that’s a blow.
The players will just have to get on with it but I think they’ll be keen to get a victory before Kerry come to Ballyshannon.
It will be tight and it could be a fast-paced game at Croke Park but I think Donegal look fit and fresh and they stand a good chance of claiming the two points on offer.
Division 1
Looking at the other teams in Division 1, you’d have to think it’s going to be a struggle for Monaghan and Roscommon based on how January has gone.
They have both been promoted but it’s hard to make the step up.
Monaghan were poor against Donegal last week and they missed the Scotstown players.
I know Armagh are down some good players as well this year but I think they will probably beat the Farney men in Clones.
It’s going to be tough going for Roscommon until the St Brigid’s players come back.
They take on Kerry this week and it’s hard to see anything other than a win for the Kingdom.
Galway take on Mayo on Sunday and this has the makings of a really good game.
Andy Moran is over Mayo now and it will be interesting to see if he gives rising star Kobe McDonald a chance.
Galway and Mayo met in the FBD League Final last week but I’d imagine the teams will look considerably different this Sunday.
It’s usually tight when these sides meet but home advantage in Salthill might just swing it in favour of Galway.
In Division 2, we will be keeping a close eye on Tyrone and Derry in this part of the world.
I was talking to Malachy O’Rourke a couple of weeks ago after we had a good challenge game with Tyrone in Tempo.
He’s brought in a lot of players and there’s no shortage of good forwards in Tyrone.
They do have a lot of players involved in the Sigerson Cup which puts a strain on things.
Darragh and Ruairi Canavan have both been injured and any team would miss players of that calibre.
Tyrone’s first match is against Kildare. The Lilywhites were beaten by Mark McHugh’s Westmeath in a brilliant O’Byrne Cup Final last Friday.
Kildare have former Roscommon manager Davy Burke in their management team now. After winning the Tailteann Cup, they know they will be playing in the Sam Maguire Cup later this year so it looks like they are going to go with youth and build.
I’d expect Tyrone to win that match.
With Pairc Tailteann in Navan being redeveloped, Meath will play their home games in Croke Park and they host Derry this week.
It’s a double-header with Donegal and Dublin so it should be a good day out for GAA fans.
I wasn’t overly impressed with Derry against Donegal last week. I know they were missing Brendan Rogers and Shane McGuigan but they lost their way in the second half.
Derry need to get back to winning ways but I fancy Meath to claim the points in that match.
Fermanagh
I’m looking forward to the start of our Division 3 campaign with Fermanagh on Sunday.
We take on Wexford in Brewster Park and it’s going to be a tough game.
Fermanagh have met Wexford a few times in recent years. There was a draw two years ago in the league and Fermanagh won when the sides met in the Tailteann Cup quarter-final last year.
However, there’s rarely much between the sides.
It’s good to have a home game to start with but we only have three matches in Enniskillen so we have to hit the ground running.
Like a lot of other county teams, we have brought in a host of young players and the attitude has been super in pre-season.
The boys that are there want to do their best for Fermanagh and that’s what you need.
We are still five or six men down with injury while the Cullen twins and Ryan Lyons are not available and that’s a good chunk of experience missing.
However, there is talent within the group and I hope we can get the right performance on Sunday.
Dingle
Dingle are All-Ireland club champions after they got the better of St Brigid’s in Croke Park on Sunday.
It was a dramatic finish with Mikey Geaney scoring an incredible winner.
It looked like St Brigid’s were going to take the win in extra-time.
There was a very harsh call given against Eddie Nolan when they were ahead and if they had got a free at that juncture then they probably would have won.
However, Dingle will point to a ’45’ that was given against them in normal time.
When games are decided by such fine margins, it’s natural to look at refereeing calls but that does the final a disservice.
It was a brilliant spectacle with two very good teams giving it their all.
Dingle certainly did it the hard way and they showed great heart and determination.
They had to fight to win the Kerry final and then the Munster decider against St Finnbarr’s.
They were ten points down at one stage against Ballyboden and fought back.
And when Ruaidhri Fallon scored that sensational two-pointer to bring the game to extra-time, they could have thought their luck was going to run out.
However, Tom O’Sullivan and Dylan Geaney really rose to the occasion and got the scores they needed.
Mark O’Connor also had a massive game and fair play to Geelong for allowing him to play.
You also have to remember that Dingle were without Barry Dan O’Sullivan, who started the season at midfield for Kerry before picking up an ACL injury.
It was some win without a county standard midfielder.
St Brigid’s have now lost two close All-Ireland Finals and it won’t be easy coming back from this.
It was a great Club Championship in general with a number of good games and it was fitting that the final lived up to the billing.
