McShea’s Say: Donegal must manage hype in lead-in to championship 

With the All-Ireland football campaign now in full flow, all the games last weekend saw the favourites emerge, all with a bit to spare apart from Armagh, who were put to the pin of their collar to beat Tyrone. 

This was a typical Ulster championship clash, and while Armagh went into this game as warm favourites, they could consider themselves quite fortunate to win by the minimum margin after extra time. 

READ NEXT: Sophie McFeely hopes Division 2 win can give Donegal boost ahead of championship 

16,000 were in the Athletic Grounds, and it was suggested that 12,000 of those were home fans and that only 4,000 were from Tyrone. 

There seemed to be a degree of apathy in Tyrone after a poor league campaign, and if that assertion was correct, it proved to be a real motivation factor in the team’s performance. 

The other factor that is a serious positive for Tyrone is that their manager, Malachy O’Rourke, is one of the top bosses in the modern game. 

And his team yet again proved the pundits wrong, even in defeat as this was their best performance for some time. 

Everyone has this image of a manager as the person helping to create the environment for fellas to play football at the top level. And in defeat, the manager becomes the fall guy. 

O’Rourke yet again saw his team do him proud, and the injuries to Darragh Canavan and midfielder Brian Kennedy were a real blow to Tyrone’s prospects. 

Armagh were less than impressive against Tyrone, but they still managed to prevail, which is a positive sign for a side below their best.

Hype 

From Donegal’s perspective, Jim McGuinness’ main problem is preventing the hype from getting to his players, as the county, to use a colloquialism, is cracked with excitement, not about winning Ulster again, but about winning the All-Ireland. 

To retain their Ulster title, Donegal must beat the winners of the Armagh and Fermanagh Ulster quarter-final. 

Declan Bonner never sent a team from the dressing room with any expectation other than winning. 

Donegal also face a possible hiccup when Down provide our opposition in Letterkenny on Sunday week. 

So there is much football to be played before the Ulster final. The one surprise last weekend was Leitrim’s top-class display in beating Sligo in the Connacht championship. 

Leitrim were the one team that could not field a team in the national league, and this win will be a serious boost to every GAA fan in the county. 

Sligo’s management team includes Eamonn McGee from Donegal, and their boss is former Sligo player Eamonn O’Hara.

The Ulster campaign continues this week with Derry, who have certainly improved, expected to account for Antrim, while the other game is a real local derby between Monaghan and Cavan. 

Derry are not on the same side of the championship draw as Donegal and are many people’s favourites to at least make it to this year’s Ulster final. 

Cavan and Monaghan matches are always difficult to call; Monaghan are favourites to win Sunday’s game, but Cavan always raise their game against their neighbours and they could pull off what would be considered a shock. 

In Leinster, Meath, who are many people’s favourites to win the provincial title, meet Westmeath, who hit five goals in their hammering of Longford last Sunday. 

The Donegal ladies excelled in beating Cavan to win their second division title, and it is great to see them back where they belong in the Top Division.

The Masters

Watching the final round of the Masters in Augusta on Sunday night, few would have visualised the incredible bottle combined with the skill displayed by the Holywood native in winning back-to-back Masters titles. 

In doing so, Rory emulated three other golfing giants, Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods, the only others to achieve such distinction. 

Sporting distinctions are not always as sweet the second time round, but McIlroy became a notable exception to this notion at Augusta. 

Two shots off the lead with ten holes played in that last round, he played with admirable courage and class, which was a crucial element in a historic success. 

In wondering where Rory’s exceptional career goes from here, it was interesting to hear the panel suggest that he now has Harry Vardon’s career record in his sights. 

And Vardon, after winning a record number of majors, was the outstanding architect who designed Bundoran Golf Course.