DONEGAL Minor football manager Barry Ward feels an Ulster Minor League Final clash with Tyrone will leave his county in good stead heading into the championship later this month.
Ward was in Owenbeg on Monday night where the Ulster Minor Championship draw was conducted and Donegal will be home to the winners of Monaghan and Down in the first round.
However before that comes into view, there is the matter of Tyrone in the Jim McGuigan Cup Final in Maghera today at 12pm.
Donegal won the Ulster Minor League two years ago and Ward’s side would like to get their hands on the silverware again, but Tyrone are always tough opponents.
The Red Hands have already made light work of Derry, Antrim, and Cavan and will be confident ahead of the final.
“Tyrone and Derry have set the standard at underage level,” Ward told the Donegal News.
“And even at Under 20 level over the last few weeks, they have been very strong.
“It’s a great game for us to get before the championship and we will prepare for it as best as we can.”
Donegal have also taken care of Cavan, as well as Fermanagh, and defeated Armagh by 3-11 to 1-9 in O’Donnell Park.
Ward’s side were the better team and were helped by a strong platform in midfield where Kalvin McLaughlin and Cathal MacAoidh impressed, with Joseph Gibbons and Tomas Carr providing support from the half-forward line.
“With the new rules now, the midfield is a battlefield.
“You have got to be ready for that every day and it’s about competing.
“You’re not going to win every break but it’s just about putting yourself in the position that you can go after that ball when it hits the ground.”
Another player to impress last Saturday was full-back Jamie Gavigan, who is the son of 1992 All-Ireland winner, Martin, and he delivered a forceful display.
Ward said: “We talked about him in the huddle afterwards for his drive and all-round play for the sixty minutes.
“I don’t know how many possessions he got for a full-back but it must have been huge.
“He was keen to get involved and he’s a super lad.”
Donegal were without Thomas Lenehan and Conor Farrell last week through injury but both players should be back in the mix against Tyrone.
“We had a couple of lads that were forced to pull out just before the match and it’s the time of the year for that unfortunately.
“We had to examine our panel and different lads started and others came in.
“Our full panel have been training very well during the week, all 34 players are going at it as hard as they can.
“Ok, there was a bit of disruption but I had full confidence in the boys that went in.
“And you could see how much they wanted to play with the impact that they made.
“It’s not that you want people thinking they’re not safe, but everyone has to be careful and come to training with the right attitude.
“We have the league final on Saturday and two weeks later we begin our championship in Letterkenny so there are great games and a lot to look forward to.”
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