Good to get two more points on the board - Jason McGee

As the Donegal players left the dressing room in Fr Tierney Park, Ballyshannon at the end of the game on Sunday, the tall frame of Jason McGee was easy to pick out as the young supporters queued up to get autographs and pictures.

McGee was after playing his fifth game in-a-row for Donegal, and his physical presence is one of the factors which is making supporters getting excited again.

The former Cloughaneely man won both throw-ups against Kerry and is beginning to enjoy being able to play injury free.

His reaction to the win was pretty calm, mainly concentrating on the fact that it was a second win and another brace of league points

“Yeah, I suppose it's good to get points on the board early. We've got four points now going into the break. I suppose ideally it's probably where we wanted to be, looking to get points on the board early.

“After two tough fixtures, we're delighted now to get points on the board.”

Asked what conditions were like, he was pleased with all aspects. “The sun came out I suppose and there was a lot of rain during the week, but the pitch held up well.

“To be fair to Ballyshannon, the pitch was top notch.  The sun played a wee bit of a factor I suppose in the kick-outs; it was hard to see with it now,  but overall we got a good enough day for it I suppose, considering it's the end of January”.

The big midfielder said he was really enjoying the football at present. “Yeah, going well, just tipping away, just trying to keep the body right and get as many minutes under my belt as I can,” said McGee. “I’m getting good minutes and a good base done early. Going into the championship that will stand me well hopefully.”

While he won both throw-ups at the start and after half-time, he says they are not easily won but he also added that winning them gives a team a very good advantage.

Donegal were trailing by two points before half-time before hitting a purple patch either side of the break and McGee felt that was important in the win.

“Yeah, that wee patch we had at the end of the first half stood to us well.  I suppose we'll be disappointed enough in the second half, conceding a lot of scores from frees. When you have Seán O'Shea in there within 50 metres there today, he was stroking them over brilliantly. But we still have four (league) points on the board from the two wins, but we still have a lot to work on now.

“It was nerve-wracking how they threw the kitchen sink at us and there were a few high balls that came in that caused a bit of hassle,” said McGee, who added that they will have to take the learnings from that.

“We'll get the week off now. I suppose we have a chance now to get the bodies right, and to look back on the last two games and see where we can improve for the next game in two weeks' time (against Mayo).

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“Yeah, because Mayo I think are going well as well. They're always a very tough team to beat, a good league team. Mayo have started brilliantly, they seem to have a new lease of life there with Andy Moran now and I believe they won well there again today.

“ We'll just have to take the next two weeks now to get prepared for them. They'll be at the top of the table class, really. Yeah, it's a big one, surely,” said McGee.