Mac's View: Division 1 status still remains the main priority for Donegal

As we said goodbye to 2022 and we now look forward to a new year and hopefully plenty for Donegal supporters to cheer about. I suppose looking back on the last year, we survived in Division 1 of the National Football League which was a huge plus.

It means that we have all the big teams again this year and that is good for the younger members of the Donegal squad as they hope to make the breakthrough.

We did well in getting over the first couple of rounds of the Ulster championship and we were paired against Derry in the final looking good. We always felt we had enough to beat Derry but on final day we couldn’t get our A game. We probably could and should have won the game in normal time but when it went to extra-time we were not as good and Derry finished out the stronger and went on to the latter stages of the All-Ireland championship.

After the Ulster final defeat, we never again reached the heights required and came up against a rejuvenated Armagh and took a hiding. Our heads were down and Armagh were coming on strong. Indeed, they were unfortunate against Galway in the quarter-final, going down on penalties. We were on the slide after Derry and it was a disappointing exit.

Then we had the club championship here and to be honest we did not see anything new come to the surface. I thought at the start of the campaign that Kilcar would be the winners, but Glenties proved themselves once again. St Eunan’s might have been a bit unfortunate with the sending off before half-time but I feel Glenties had the better of Eunan’s on the day.

The Glenties side have a great record in Donegal in recent times, competing in five finals in-a-row. Unfortunately, they lost out to Cargin after a penalty shoot-out in the Ulster club championship. I had hopes of them getting a step further but whether they would have been good enough for the Derry champions, Glen, who won the competition outright, is debatable.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
Outside of Donegal, Dublin, maybe not as strong as usual, still came out of Leinster and put it up to Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final. Were it not for that massive point from Seanie O’Shea, it could have been different. But Kerry, with the forwards that they have at the moment, are a bit ahead of the rest of the country.

Galway were very dependent on the one man up front (Shane Walsh). That is a problem for them. It was good to see them coming of Connacht but I would venture to say that they won’t win an All-Ireland with just one man up front.
On the hurling front, it was good to see Limerick confirm themselves as the superior team in the country at the moment, winning the three in-a-row. They have a simple game plan with a lot of physicality and they brought it to bear on all teams, crushing them.

Back here in the county it was good to see the work of the Four Masters Club being rewarded with underage titles. They have proved what can be done. They have a good catchment area with a number of schools, but it has to be nurtured and it has been at that club over the last few years.

I was sorry for them that they lost their Ulster minor club final to a late Dungiven goal, but there is a sign that there is a lot to come from the club, even with a lot of other sports pulling off them in Donegal Town.

THE YEAR OF 2023
And what about the year ahead? I would again like to see Donegal survive in the top flight. It is essential that we win our three home games and maybe steal a point or two away from home. It would be nice to stay in Division 1 where you play the bigger teams and attract the bigger crowds.

The Ulster championship has given us a fair chance to get to an Ulster final once again. We meet Down in Newry and will probably renew acquaintances with Armagh in the semi-final if we get past the Mourne men.

Obviously, we will have to work without Michael Murphy, but that means we have to get other players to share the workload. Murphy was a huge servant for Donegal over 15 years. Selecting a captain to replace him will also be an important job of work. We just took Murphy for granted over the years.

Paddy Carr names team for Donegal's McKenna Cup opener in Down

Donegal get their new regime underway on Sunday against Down on Sunday at Pairc Esler in Newry