Gilmore and Donegal are ready for battle with Wicklow once again

“We’re ready for battle.”

That’s the war cry of Donegal marksman Gerry Gilmore as Mickey McCann’s men collide with the Garden County for the third time in a month, at O’Donnell Park on Saturday.

But they certainly won’t lack motivation as Wicklow won their last two encounters, the last one a heartbreaking injury-time goal from Seanie Germaine in the Division 3 final, giving the Wicklow men a one-point win.

It was his third goal of the game and a second in quick succession after a mighty 1-2 from Liam McKinney put Donegal into a five-point lead with normal time up.

And it was the cruellest of defeats by 3-16 to 2-18, and certainly a hard watch for Gilmore, who was recovering from a finger injury.

But the good news for Donegal is that he will be in contention for a starting slot on Sunday in their opening game of the Christy Ring.

“In fairness, it was a great game to be watching, but you just wish you were involved.

“I thought Donegal were excellent on the day, but two long balls in injury time, and we conceded two goals and lost by a point.

“And even some of the Wicklow players were saying after the game that they sort of robbed us on the day.

“It was a sucker blow at the end of the day and a bit similar to the McGurk Cup against Derry back in January.

“We conceded a last-gasp goal from Christy McNaughton to lose by a point that day too.”

Gilmore added that this is “something we need to work on and our mentality in closing out games.

“Hopefully, that is a lesson learned.”

Meanwhile, Gilmore was back training for the first time on Tuesday night and is in contention to start.

He sustained the injury against Roscommon when one of the bands on a hurl sliced his finger, and he had to get five stitches inserted in his middle finger.

“I am not sure how it happened, but I remember looking down and seeing my finger sliced open, so I knew right away that I had to go to the hospital.

“It was not great, but it has healed, and I was able to train and hold the hurl for the first time last Tuesday night.

“That was the first time in two and a half weeks.

“So it is great to be back coming into the championship.”

Wicklow are a bit of a bogey team for Donegal, having beaten them in the Nickey Rackard Cup final in 2023, as well as their last two encounters.

“Ronan McDermott did his ACL that day, and Richie Ryan broke his ankle, so we were in no luck,” Gilmore added on the 2023 final.

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But Donegal have home advantage in O’Donnell Park, which is the ideal venue to bounce back from that depressing defeat.

“Against Wicklow, it is all on the day, and we want to make up for those two recent defeats.

“It will not be easy as they are a very big physical team with plenty of scoring options up front.”

“We want to do ourselves justice, and it is very important for us to get off to a winning start as we will face bigger tests down the road.”

“Wicklow need the points as well, and they are a team that seem to be able to get goals at important times.”

And he saluted the great contribution of Liam McKinney in that final.

“Liam is a huge player with immense drive and is also a real leader.

“And he is just so fast running with the ball on the stick, and he can also hit the frees.

“That 1-2 he hit in four minutes was a real outstanding achievement, and it nearly got us over the line.”

But what the modest Gilmore did not say was that his return is a huge boost for Donegal as they face another tough test on Sunday.

“We are glad to have him in championship season, and we certainly don’t want to lose three times in a row to Wicklow.

“We need to turn up on the day, and from the vibes in training, we are up for it, and we are ready to go to battle with Wicklow.”