McShea’s Say: Dr Hyde Park as a neutral venue for Donegal and Mayo is wrong 

“No county has endured more anguish and disappointment in the quest for the Sam Maguire Cup than Mayo. 

“Almost three-quarters of a century has passed since they were last All-Ireland champions in 1951. 

“That year has become a bright and poignant touchstone, and while the county has produced glittering football players and achieved many days of glory since, the grand prize has eluded them. 

“But for all that, there is an abiding magnificence to Mayo football. They keep pressing and have never compromised the open, often flamboyant style of play for which the county has been celebrated, while the passionate Mayo public have stayed loyal and loud through the setbacks.

That is how the brilliant Ballyshannon writer Keith Duggan described Mayo football in his wonderful book House Of Pain on his story about Mayo’s footballing fortunes.

Yet again, this season, Mayo’s fortunes on the pitch have ebbed and flowed. They were excellent in beating a Tyrone side that defeated Donegal in Ballybofey, and they were simply dismal in losing to Cavan. 

That inconsistency must be the reason that the bookies have made Donegal overwhelming favourites to win the vital championship match when the teams meet in Roscommon. 

Donegal are quoted at odds of 4/11, while Mayo is on offer at 11/4. Those are not realistic odds, and this will be a much closer game than the bookies are expecting.

While Donegal followers did not want the expense of travelling to Dublin for this fixture, it was wrong to bring Donegal to Roscommon as many Donegal supporters would have made the journey quicker to Dublin than they will get to Hyde Park. 

It is also as close to a home game as Mayo could have expected to get, but the die is now cast, and Donegal will no doubt be totally focused for a game that will decide their destiny in this year’s championship.

One of a football manager’s most vital attributes is his enthusiasm, and a manager can take his players with him if he retains that quality. 

It becomes infectious in creating team spirit and is the foundation for the job. The single most valuable quality of any manager is his ability to make a decision, and I believe that Donegal have an edge in this area. 

While Stephen Rochford had a very positive CV at club level, his inter-county one is not as good.

Going back to 2012, Donegal under Jim McGuinness put Mayo to the sword in that famous All-Ireland victory, while back-to-back Ulster titles in the last two years were also a most significant achievement.

When it comes to naming the Donegal side for this game, management have some difficult decisions to make. 

The selection of Donegal’s starting forward line is not a straightforward task. While the team racked up a cricket score against Cavan, some of the side were off colour, and it would not be a major surprise to see some changes in the starting line-out.

A feature of Donegal’s play this year is the incredible consistency of Michael Murphy, and apart from his footballing excellence, one can sense his influence on the side. 

Despite a far from ideal venue for Donegal fans, I believe there is a great demand for tickets for this game and a capacity crowd of 20,000 is expected, and Donegal now are one of the best-supported teams in football.

Prior to the demolition job against Cavan, Donegal had scored 1-23 against Derry, 0-23 against Monaghan, 1-19 against Down, and 2-23 against Armagh in our Ulster final victory. 

That is a total of 100 points in those four games or an average of 25 points per game. That is an excellent scoring average, and I believe if we rack up a total of 25 points in Roscommo,n we will more than justify the less-than-realistic odds.

In the other game in Donegal’s section, anything other than a Tyrone victory in their match with Cavan would be a major surprise. 

If that is the situation with Tyrone and Donegal winning, Tyrone would top the group as a result of their beating Donegal in the head-to-head game in Ballybofey and would mean Donegal having a preliminary quarter-final game to play, but let us beat Mayo first, and I am confident that Donegal will achieve that objective.

Park penalties

The epic Munster hurling final between Cork and Limerick was simply wonderful entertainment. 

Apart from the incredible skill on view, the teak-tough tackling, the wonderful sportsmanship from both teams, and the incredible fitness levels, it is very wrong to decide the outcome of an incredible sporting occasion on penalties. 

I don’t know even one sports fan who sees the penalty fiasco as remotely fair or just to any team.