McShea’s Say: Six Donegal men should be serious contenders for All-Stars

When it comes to the naming of the All Stars, the performance in the All-Ireland final is always a major issue. 

If that is the rationale again this year, some of our team may be unfortunate to lose out.

Finnbarr Roarty, Brendan Mc Cole, Michael Langan, Michael Murphy, Conor O’Donnell, and Ciaran Moore all played All-Star football this year and should be serious contenders for selection, but it does not always work out as expected, and beaten finalists on many occasions usually must make do with four, or at best five, awards. 

The football played by those six Donegal men was of All-Star quality, and let us hope that the selectors acknowledge that. I have reflected on many occasions on our disappointing All-Ireland final performance and have tried to understand why it was so disappointing. 

The ‘hype’ in the county was simply incredible in the build-up to the final and maybe, just maybe, there was not enough distraction control. There is a major difference between emotion and hype. Supporters went to extraordinary lengths to proclaim their undying loyalty to Donegal. 

The players were trying their best to embrace the buildup and not let it faze them, but it was hard to get the balance. 

The National media seemed to put excessive attention on their match preview on Donegal, something that was right up Kerry’s alley, and was alluded to by Kerry’s man of the match, Paudie Clifford, in a post-match interview. 

I must admit that it was extremely difficult to protect the players from this incredible hype, as I personally never enjoyed an atmosphere outside Croke Park as that which prevailed in the hours before throw-in.

Let us hope that if we are back in Croke Park next July, we will have gained much from this year’s journey.

I always believed that picking teams was a subjective exercise, and yet again that was the case when the Ulster All-Stars team was named at the weekend.

As the name suggests, this is a side picked based on the Ulster championship. I find it inconceivable that any group of selectors could name Ulster’s best 15 and manage not to include Peadar Mogan in that side. 

The St. Naul’s man was simply excellent in every match in the province, and to exclude him simply beggars belief.

The quality of football in the Ulster Club Championship is quite a step up from what is required to prevail in one’s own county championship. So, I was very interested to see which team would be crowned county champions in Monaghan last Sunday.

Scotstown beat Inniskeen by five points in a most competitive encounter after the teams finished level at 15 points each after 60 minutes. 

Scotstown, in winning their third Monaghan title in a row, totally dominated the extra time with Inniskeen only scoring one two pointer, as the holders scored seven excellent points to emerge as the most deserving winners of a good game of football. 

Naomh Conaill, our county champions, now face a formidable task as they head to Monaghan to play Scotstown in next week’s Ulster campaign. 

Ulster has not proved to be a happy hunting ground for Donegal teams and only two teams have ever won an Ulster club title in St. Joseph’s and Gaoth Dobhair.

Many good Donegal winners have represented the county in their quest for Ulster honours, but destiny seems to have conspired against them, and they just couldn’t prevail. Let us hope that Glenties, after another wonderful year on home soil, can deliver on their travels.

Well done to our neighbours Belleek, for their excellent win in Sunday's Fermanagh County final against Derrygonnelly. 

Excellent displays by captain Ryan Lyons, and Ultan and Oisin Kelm were major factors in the Erne Gaels retaining the championship in a nail-biting closing ten minutes.