BY RYAN FERRY
KIERAN McGeeney has been in cranky form since the start of the season and you can imagine his humour isn’t great ahead of a big match with Donegal in the Athletic Grounds on Sunday.
Between breaches, fisted points, big backroom teams and two disappointing defeats, the 2002 All-Ireland winning captain has conducted some feisty interviews already this year.
Jim McGuinness had one of those himself but as his side head for Armagh this weekend, they are undoubtedly in better stead.
It has been a super start to the season for Donegal.
Six games have been played and six victories recorded and it’s safe to say that they have been the most impressive team in the country so far.
The likes of Stephen McMenamin, Jamie Brennan, Shaun Patton, Eoin McHugh and Ciaran Thompson haven’t featured yet this year but there is a consistency and vibrancy to Donegal’s play that other teams are struggling to handle.
The athletic profile of the team means that competitors really have to be primed and focused when facing Donegal, and Mayo fell short in that regard.
It has been said that the Mayo team looked heavy-legged after a tough fortnight of training but that theory doesn’t quite stack up.
After beating weakened Galway and Dublin teams, a clash with Donegal was a good gauge of where they were at, and on the evidence of Sunday, Andy Moran’s team have some work to do.
Jim McGuinness’s men are in a good place but it’s still early in the season and others will improve.
Donegal are also suited to playing in the blustery weather at this time of the year.
Few teams in recent memory have been able to cope with playing against strong winds as well as this Donegal side.
They are able to hold onto possession and starve the opposition of the ball when they are feeling the pressure to nail two-pointers and build up a score.
We saw last year that things even out a bit when the weather improves and the conditions don’t have such a drastic impact.
Donegal lead the way in Division 1 with six points to their name and it is the exact same spot as last year.
It’s highly likely that two more victories will take Donegal through to the Division 1 Final but the question remains do they want to get there?
It certainly wasn’t on the radar last year as Donegal were in the Preliminary Round of Ulster, although they weren’t exactly pulling up in the last regulation game against Mayo when a Hugh McFadden shot smacked off the crossbar with just a few minutes left, and they would surely have won if the ball had gone in.
The schedule isn’t quite as hectic this year so a league final wouldn’t be disruptive.
However, McGuinness has never placed much importance on winning the secondary competition and it was telling that he mentioned Down’s form in his post-match on Sunday.
With a new championship structure in place, it does appear advantageous to reach the provincial final, and Donegal will be targeting a win over Down on April 26.
League safety is secured and now the management will want to give game time to those who haven’t featured much so far.
It’s not an easy task to keep a squad happy but young players who are giving massive commitment do deserve a chance to show what they can do, and that has been a practise that McGuinness has followed in 2024 against Meath in Round 7 and last year as well.
Getting the balance right will be key to Donegal’s competitiveness in the Athletic Grounds if there are changes.
Michael Murphy didn’t travel to any away league matches last year and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he stays at home this Sunday either.
It’s been a busy start to the year for Finnbarr Roarty and it might be an opportunity to give the Naomh Conaill man a rest, while Jason McGee is performing superbly but has to be managed as well.
A decent spine will likely remain in place but it would be a surprise if there are not some tweaks around the edges.
Armagh won their opener against Monaghan in style and then somehow lost to Galway by a point in a game they should have won.
Their Roscommon defeat may have come as a shock to some but it was always likely to be a testing league for Kieran McGeeney’s team considering the quality of players they lost over the winter.
Rian O’Neill is not involved while Stefan Campbell, Niall Grimley, Jemar Hall, and Shane McPartlan have all left the panel and Connaire Mackin has emigrated to Australia.
Rory Grugan is due back but has been away travelling, while Barry McCambridge and Aidan Forker have been carrying injuries.
McGeeney has previously been able to develop a strong panel with players in their thirties hanging on even when not making the matchday panel which is highly unusual.
However, the depth isn’t there this year and that was always likely to take a toll early in the season.
That said, the manner of their defeat to the Rossies last week was uncharacteristic for this Armagh side.
They were slow and timid and allowed Roscommon to ease past them and establish a 12-point lead at half-time.
Andrew Murnin has been excellent at midfield so far but Blaine Hughes’s kick-outs were woeful in the Hyde and put the Orchard county under huge pressure. No county has conceded more goals in the league than Armagh after three rounds.
McGeeney was seething after the Roscommon match and you can be sure that there will be a different attitude from the Armagh players on home ground this weekend.
It is well known that these sides don’t like each other.
The last interaction they had involved a scuffle despite the crowd invading the pitch after the Ulster Final.
That wasn’t the first flashpoint and there’s always plenty of verbals thrown into the mix as well.
The fact that Armagh haven’t beaten Donegal under McGuinness is not irrelevant but they were All-Ireland champions two years ago, and if the sides meet later this year, the Orchard side will fancy their chances.
And with the somewhat bizarre news that Tyrone’s Darragh Canavan is heading away to Australia for a month before the Ulster Championship, it feels ever more likely that a big Donegal v Armagh semi-final will be brewing in early May.
The Championship is the currency that McGuinness values most and he might have to sacrifice a game or two in the coming weeks to keep things on track for the summer.
