Mac's View: Sunday’s display against Mayo was a Donegal masterclass

What a day we had in O’Donnell Park, Letterkenny on Sunday with the win over Mayo in the third round of the league. Our display, especially in the first half, was out of this world. It was a masterclass.

Mayo may have been disappointing but I think it was the fact that we made them look poor. Donegal were on top all over the field and Mayo weren’t able to compete with them.

Even at the start of the second half when they showed a little bit of spirit and kicked two points, we had Ryan McHugh coming up and hitting a great score from well outside the two point range and it had plenty to spare going over the bar. Indeed, at that stage also the wind had subsided and there wasn’t near the same advantage as Mayo had in the opening half. 

There were so many good performances from the Donegal players. Oisin Gallen gave a masterclass while on the field. He was so confident on the ball and his was a super display.

I don’t know what sort of fuel Peadar Mogan and you wouldn’t know where you would find him on the pitch. His pass for the only goal of the game put paid to any chance of a Mayo comeback.

The full-back, Brendan McCole, was very, very secure. He is one of the most consistent players now. I hear he will be playing his 100th game for Donegal against Armagh on Sunday next and congratulations to him for that. It is a great landmark for any county player.

And what about man of the match, Conor O’Donnell. I didn’t realise he had so much pace. He is a regular scorer now for Donegal in every match and it was good to see his namesake, Shane O’Donnell, also getting on the scoresheet on Sunday. Nobody works as hard as the St Eunan’s lad.

It was a big day also for young Conor McCahill of Four Masters, still studying for his Leaving Cert. Yet he showed no nerves in his first league start and fired over the opening two points. I see where Jim (McGuinness) was high in his praise of McCahill when speaking afterwards. Jim mentioned that he had talked to young McCahill on the phone on Saturday night and told him to just go out and be himself. He certainly did that on Sunday. It appears that he had been doing it in training and that’s why he got his first start.

Overall, it was a great team performance and having three wins on the board is allowing Jim and the backroom team to use players wisely. Michael Murphy got another 20 minutes and Oisin Gallen, Eoghan Ban Gallagher, Jason McGee and Ryan McHugh were called ashore early.

The management will be able to do more of that now to protect players who have picked up knocks or are returning from injuries. 

Donegal move on now to Armagh next Sunday in the Athletic Grounds and will face a side who were torn apart by Roscommon on Sunday last in Dr Hyde Park in the opening 20 minutes. They never recovered from it, even though they had plenty of chances in what was a physical encounter.

I see our own ‘Silver’ Maguire had to get involved to separate a player from either side in his capacity as umpire at the venue. That photo will get some mileage for the Ballyshannon man.

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Armagh have an awful lot of talent but always seem to underachieve. Being at the top of the table I believe Jim will probably go for the league and knowing Jim he will want to keep Armagh under his thumb. Sunday will also be another good opportunity to try out some more of the young lads and I won’t be surprised to see two or three used for this game.

There was a great crowd in O’Donnell Park on Sunday and the stewarding, etc., was well handled. Just looking at the venue, with a small amount of work, it could take a lot more. It does look likely that the championship match against Down will be hosted there and they have a couple of months to work on getting the capacity up.

Finally, this week my sympathies to the Conaghan and Cunningham families in Killybegs on the death of Bernard Conaghan and Pat Cunningham, two families steeped in GAA tradition. May they rest in peace.

Brian McEniff was in conversation with Peter Campbell

Sylvester (Silver) Maguire keeping the peace in Dr Hyde Park between Armagh and Mayo Pic Sportsfile