CHAMPIONSHIP football is back in MacCumhaill Park this Saturday and I’m sure there will be a great buzz around the Twin Towns ahead of the Cork match.
O’Donnell Park and Fr Tierney Park have filled the void very well when the Ballybofey venue was under redevelopment, but MacCumhaill Park is the home of Donegal football.
Players and supporters enjoy going there on the big championship days and it creates a special atmosphere. Our record in MacCumhaill Park is strong and that matters both to the Donegal team and whoever we are playing.
Cork are the side coming to town this week and they will know they will need a huge performance to win.
The work on the pitch has finished slightly earlier than expected and you would imagine it will be in pristine condition.
I do think Cork is a good draw for Donegal. They aren’t good travellers and it looks like Colm O’Callaghan will be suspended.
He will be a big loss but Cork will bring a physical challenge – they always do.
I was reading that they are going to fly up to Derry on Saturday morning. They must be confident that the weather won’t lead to any delays!
d I’m sure Donegal will have been driving things on in the background over the last few weeks.
It won’t have felt like it when Down defeated Donegal in the Ulster quarter-final but that loss could benefit the team in the long run.
Yes the boys will have been keen to win a third Ulster in-a-row.
But the provincial runs take a lot out of you, and I think Donegal could be fresher this time around because of the long break.
A defeat like the Down one can also lead to some soul-searching and players know they have to pick it up again.
Michael Langan didn’t play against Down and his fitness is going to be huge this summer. Likewise, we need Michael Murphy on the field. We saw how he controlled the match against Kerry and he so rarely picks the wrong pass. It looks like Oisin Gallen might be getting back to his best as well and that is really encouraging.
I expect a real focus from Donegal on Saturday.
They won’t want to be heading off for a game next weekend that could potentially jeopardise their season.
The aim will be to make sure they get the job done against Cork and drive on to the quarter-finals.
Round 2B
It’s a busy weekend but the real drama will be in Division 2B where four teams will be dumped out for the year.
The game between Derry and Meath in Celtic Park is probably the biggest one for me.
Both of these sides had high hopes coming into the year but it will all be over early for one of them on Saturday.
Meath were in an All-Ireland semi-final last year and won Division 2 of the NFL but the championship hasn’t worked out so well and now Ruairi Kinsella is out with an ACL injury.
It feels like a big game for Derry. The likes of Brendan Rogers, Gareth McKinless, Conor Glass, Shane McGuigan and Conor Doherty have been around for a good while now and they can’t afford for another season just to peter out.
Home advantage might just help Derry to shade it but you could have extra-time.
Dublin are under pressure and Cavan could make things tricky for them.
Cavan have injuries but they battled well against Westmeath.
Dublin have lost their last two games and I just can’t see that becoming three this week.
The All-Ireland champions Kerry are at last-chance saloon but they have got a soft landing with the draw against Kildare.
The Lilywhites have struggled this year and were relegated to Division 3. It’s a good game for Kerry to get going again and get some of their big men back on the field.
Monaghan against Roscommon is a tasty match and I think both of these sides will fancy their chances
Monaghan need to start better this time around. Roscommon will start as favourites but this one could go either way down the home straight.
Looking at the other Division 2A games, there will be focus on Tyrone to see if they can put back-to-back performances together.
The talk is that Darragh Canavan will be back and if he is I think they could see off Mayo.
Mark McHugh and his Westmeath team are eyeing up another big upset against Galway.
I’ve said before that Galway are a side I would fear now that the likes of Shane Walsh, Matthew Tierney and Damien Comer are back fit.
I think they should have too much for Westmeath.
There’s a tasty derby in Inniskeen with Louth hosting Armagh.
Louth will try and make it into a real battle but the Orchard side are going well and they should win.
Tailteann Cup
We’re really getting to the business end of the Tailteann Cup now with the quarter-finals set to take place this weekend.
Fermanagh have had three good wins so far and we have now been paired with Sligo.
It should be a good game. We went to Markievicz during the league and came away empty-handed.
I’d expect it to be close on Saturday and it will take a big performance from Fermanagh to win.
The big boost for us is that it is in Brewster Park and we will aim to make the most of that.
Fermanagh played New York last week and it was fairly one-way traffic.
Minors
The Donegal minor footballers will conclude their season on Saturday with the Tier 2 Minor Championship Final with Louth.
The game has been fixed for Armagh on Saturday evening which is a pity because it’s not going to be easy for people to get from Ballybofey to the Athletic Grounds.
Donegal will have learned a lot throughout the league and championship where they have had a lot of tight matches.
I know the team were very disappointed not to reach the Ulster Final but they didn’t feel sorry for themselves and have bounced back well.
They have had good wins over Dublin and Down in the Tier 2 Minor Championship and that sent them through to the decider against Louth on Saturday.
Louth may be called the wee county but Louth has a big population and they are starting to make it count at underage level.
I’m sure we will see plenty of these Donegal players in the green and gold in years to come and it would be nice if they could close off their minor days with a Paul McGirr medal.