Mac's View: Let’s go to Hyde Park and secure league final place

Donegal are back on the road on Sunday and it is a reasonably short trip for the team and supporters to Dr Hyde Park in Roscommon for round 6 of the National League.

Jim McGuinness and his side are in pole position a point clear at the top of the table on nine points and one more win from their two remaining games - Roscommon on Sunday and Monaghan the following Sunday - will be enough to guarantee them a day out in Croke Park in the National League final on March 29th.

Last year at this point they were joint top of the table with Galway on eight points but lost their last two games at home to Tyrone and away to Mayo and didn’t qualify for the final. Last year was different with their Ulster championship clash with Derry so close to the league decider whereas this year they have breathing space of a full four weeks from the league final until the host Down in the Ulster championship.

They have to go for it and while Jim has been concentrating on developing players, it seemed clear from interviews after recent games that the players are relishing a trip to Croke Park for a league final.

We are at the business end of the league and there are some very big games this weekend with Mayo travelling to Tralee to take on Kerry and Armagh making the trip to Croke Park to play Dublin.

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The Kerry-Mayo game will have a big bearing on who our potential opponents might be if we are to be in a league final, while the game in Croke Park on Saturday evening is huge for Armagh, who would be almost certain of relegation if they were to lose that game.

But we need to look after our own knitting and our game in Hyde Park will be a good test. Roscommon played terribly badly against Dublin last time out at the same venue but up to that they were one of the form teams in the country. They are better than they were against Dublin and we have to be aware of that.

We have to go for it now. Donegal are playing very well with great confidence and we have a very good squad of players. We must not underestimate the Rosses as they especially have some very good forwards. We have conceded only one goal so far in the five games played and that will be tested against Roscommon, who are noted for their goalscoring. The Rossies have notched 11 goals so far in the campaign, far and beyond any other team, ahead of Galway and Mayo with 8 and Kerry with 7. Donegal have scored five but are by far the meanest in defence with just one conceded.

The pitch in Dr Hyde Park is one of the best around and it is a big pitch. Getting results there have proven tough over the years but then again any result has to be earned. Our last trip there was for the championship game with Mayo and that proved to be a good day for Donegal last June.

I have a good feeling about the game and it would be nice to have the final spot secured come Sunday evening next. I know we had a few injuries in the past few weeks and I’m not sure if we will have the likes of Ciaran Moore, Shane O’Donnell and Dáire Ó Baoill back, but even without them we have plenty of talent.

I was just thinking recently we now have three All-Stars playing in our defence in Brendan McCole, Peadar Mogan and Ryan McHugh and another, Eoghan Bán Gallagher, who was within a whisker of winning one.

It is going to be a very busy few weeks for the Donegal players, especially those who are U-20 as the Ulster championship in that age bracket will begin on Wednesday night next with a home game against Fermanagh in Buncrana. 

Apart from the two final National League games and hopefully a league final, the Donegal U-20s have four games all shoehorned in and around those National League games. After Fermanagh, they have Monaghan away, Antrim in Ballyshannon and Derry away.

There will be plenty of opportunities for the younger brigade to show off their wares although there could also be a dilemma for managements to make sure that no injuries are picked up along the way.

It is good also to see that club football will be back on the agenda soon with the All County League fixtures released last week. The action is due to get underway on the last Saturday in March, a day before the National League final.

Our minors had their first taste of action last weekend with a draw away to Antrim, a game which they led for long periods. Hopefully, they can get a win at home to Monaghan this weekend.

Commiserations to Mickey McCann and the hurlers who suffered their first defeat of the campaign at home to Wicklow last Sunday. They have a chance to redeem themselves in their final game against Roscommon in a week’s time.

Brian McEniff was in conversation with Peter Campbell