Mac's View: 'Kerry scored three points from 24th minute so should look at that'

The win for Donegal over Kerry on Sunday has given the county a huge lift. The Kerry manager, Jack O’Connor, did not take the beating well and I just wonder why he was complaining. We had given them a goal and a couple of points in the first half. I don’t know what he was complaining about.

Kerry only scored three points from the 24th minute onwards so I think there are other areas where he should be looking at. What was really enjoyable was the way we won with Patrick McBrearty stepping up to hit that great late, late score. There was no chance for them to come back at us.

Patrick was not much in the game until that point. He was venturing out the field looking for the ball and it wasn’t happening. Then it all came good at the right time. No better man to have the ball in that situation.

It was a really good Donegal performance with a lot of the younger lads stepping up to the plate. The victory will put a pep in their step going forward. They played some great attacking football and were getting forward and were not afraid to shoot.

I picked out numbers 2, 5, 10, 11, 12 and I will come back to them. I was also very pleased with the display of our centre half-back, Stephen McMenamin. After watching him in the first game in the Dr McKenna Cup in Newry, I was worried. He looked off the pace. But he has done some great work in the meantime and was at the fulcrum of many Donegal attacks on Sunday as well as doing his defensive work.

It was great also to see young Luke McGlynn from Glenfin coming off the bench and hitting a point with his first possession. He is certainly one for the future.

The win came in a week when there was a feeling that we weren’t going to win before the game and the question asked how we were going to get the scores. As it turned out we got 12 of the 13 points from play. We have to point out also that six of those points came from two young Inishowen men, Conor O’Donnell and Caolan McColgan with Caolan McGonagle on the field also.

Mark Curran at corner-back played really well, especially in the second half. He was there or thereabouts before but didn’t get a run. Young McColgan at half-back was a revelation. He is a great bit of stuff and has the ability to get forward time after time. Conor O’Donnell is a cracking footballer and is getting stronger by the day. He is very easy to watch when running with the ball.

An Alternative View: Delays, debuts and delight for Donegal

For the outsiders looking in it wasn't too certain where Donegal were at following a winter of change but Paddy Carr's side produced a gutsy performance full of guile to see off Kerry thanks to a Patrick McBrearty wonder score in injury time

The young Downings lad, Johnny McGroddy, might have got turned over a couple of times, but he played really well, covering in defence and he has the skill level to make it at this level.

Dáire Ó Baoill led the line really well and was unfortunate not to get a goal. Apart from his two points, he set up others, notably for young McGlynn and especially the winning score for McBrearty. That was a beautiful finish and you could see it starting with McBrearty breaking from the sideline. It was something he had done so many times before for club and county.
Now we have to go into the Hornet’s Nest on Sunday when we go to Healy Park in Omagh to take on Tyrone. They have lost two games on the spin (Dr McKenna Cup final and Roscommon in league last Sunday) and they will be smarting.

I watched their game against Roscommon last week and they were comfortable, leading 1-9 to 0-9, when a ball was played in. I think it was young Canavan who checked out and Roscommon went down the pitch and levelled it with a goal. After that Roscommon seemed to take over.

Tyrone are not going that well, whatever is wrong, but they will be a tough opponent on Sunday. Overall, ours was a great performance on Sunday, especially after such a bad start. But we tightened up well after that.

Sunday will be tight as Tyrone can’t afford to lose. But if our boys play with the same abandon as last Sunday, they can get the result. They certainly look fit.

I thought our Jamie Brennan tried very hard on Sunday and put in a big shift. We need a similar type performance this week from the whole team. We have two points in the bag already and that should allow us to play with some freedom. We are not under the same pressure after winning on Sunday last.

The win was a great lift to the crowd; it was like they had won the league. Indeed, it was a great lift for the whole county.

There was great support there on Sunday last and the trip to Omagh is not a long journey for Donegal people. I would hope that they would all travel again and make the same amount of noise as on Sunday last.

Good luck to Paddy Carr and his management team; keep it going. Good luck also to the other Donegal teams playing this weekend and hopefully they can take encouragement from what happened in MacCumhaill Park on Sunday.

SLIGO TEST AND LADIES IN KERRY
The Donegal hurlers take on Sligo in O’Donnell Park on Saturday and Sligo have improved greatly in recent years and this will be a good test for Mickey McCann’s men.

Maxi Curran and the Ladies have had a tough start, losing again last week to All-Ireland champions, Meath. They have the long journey to Kerry.

LATE CORNY CARR
I was really saddened to hear of the death of Corny Carr, Donegal Town. He had been through a tough time. I met him a number of years ago on a train journey back from Dublin when he was in the early stages of his sickness and had a great chat with him. Because I have been out of commission for a number of weeks with a virus, I knew I couldn’t make the wake or funeral. I contacted Tom Conaghan to pass on my condolences.

The Donegal senior championship team of 1987 v Armagh with Corny Carr pictured centre back row

Corny was a fine figure of a man and gave great service to Four Masters and Donegal. He had fought a tough battle in recent times. May his soul rest in peace.