The Alternative View: Kilcar colours to the fore in Dr Hyde Park, Roscommon

It is still only March but Sunday last seemed like the longest day of the year. We had an hour less in bed and by the end of a dismal day at Dr Hyde Park in Roscommon, we went back down the road with our tails between our legs.

A rare Saturday night out being serenaded by some of my golfing pals in a Rossinver pub further reduced the preparation time.

Only the brave and hardy Donegal supporters made the journey, who were then given a tour of Roscommon with a detour through Frenchpark. The PA announcer revealed as the game neared its end that 4,219 supporters paid in and we wondered did Donegal supply the 219 - that would be about the height of it.

Referee Joe McQuillan added three minutes at the end; we were thankful for small mercies. I was involved in the radio broadcast for Ocean FM along with Ciaran Cannon and it was difficult to make any sense of what was happening in front of us. At the end trying to sum up Donegal’s display was an even bigger dilemma. The 12 point hammering came a week after a similar setback against Mayo seven days earlier.

Former Donegal star, Martin McHugh, looked bewildered as he spoke about what had unfolded. It was Donegal at their worst. And then he saw his grandson out on the pitch, kicking a ball in a Roscommon jersey (I think it was a Kilcar one). His son, Mark, had been on the sideline with Roscommon and that made it even more difficult for him to make sense of it.

We are talking about one of the poorest displays from a Donegal team in my time covering games. There was a kick for about 15 minutes but after that we scored two late points in the first half and two more in the last quarter, the final one with virtually the last attack.

Donegal simply have to knuckle down if they're to salvage season - Molloy

"We have a number of real issues to address behind closed doors. And they’re big ones, without a doubt. But get that business done in a professional and dignified manner"

We ended the campaign with a points difference of -41. Captain Patrick McBrearty bravely faced the press outside the dressing room and said that it was his third relegation while playing for Donegal and it was not the end of the world.

But there was a massive difference to what happened in Donegal’s final two games this year (and that points difference) to the other times that Donegal were relegated, Paul Mannion’s late equaliser for Dublin in 2013 and Kevin McLoughlin of Mayo doing something similar in 2018. We went down fighting and didn’t actually lose those games.

This relegation came after a Donegal collapse and those loyal supporters who travelled to Dr Hyde Park were left with very little to cheer about.

Kilcar’s Shauna Brady was probably the first Donegal supporter to arrive at the stand and was impressed by the seat colouring - the Kilcar colours were prominent. “If only we could have those seats in Towney.”

There was an omen that things were not going to go well. The match programme listed Donegal notables Seamus Coleman, Daniel O’Donnell and Shay Given as being ‘Notable Mayo People’!

The Donegal players were there early and got a look at the pitch. Expectation was not high but we were hopeful that there would be a bounce after manager Paddy Carr walked away after a meeting with the players in midweek. When we heard that Caolan McColgan, Jeaic Mac Ceallabhuí and Dáire Ó Baoill were not starting, expectation was lowered even more.

What happened between the players and the manager will probably never be revealed, but it didn’t show Donegal in a great light, not just in the county, but throughout the country.

We were expecting a bit of a reaction on the back of it, but all we got was about 15 minutes.

The reality is that we don’t have the scoring power up front because of retirements and injuries. We no longer have the player who can give us five or six points a game - something that Donegal could draw on going back as far as I can remember - from Joe ‘Dodo’ Winston in 1972; Neilly Gallagher and Seamus Bonar in 1974; Martin Carney, Martin McHugh, Declan Bonner, Manus Boyle, Declan Bonner, Tony Boyle, Adrian Sweeney, Brendan Devenney and then in recent times Colm Anthony McFadden, Michael Murphy and Patrick McBrearty.

On Sunday night we debated on Owenea FM where Donegal stood, both on and off the field. The Dohertys and McBreartys produce a show that is unique and interesting and after close on two hours dissecting anything that was worth discussing, I slept a little better. There were a few others out there who shared a more balanced version of events.

Donegal GAA is not in a good place. On Sunday it looked like Aidan O’Rourke was not going to stay. Just when it seemed things couldn’t get any worse. Would we go back to the 1960s and have a Selection Committee to pick a team to play Down?

Thankfully, news came through on Tuesday evening that both O’Rourke and Bradley would take charge for the championship. The alternative was unthinkable. I felt relieved for county chairman, Fergus McGee, who has been through the mill with the happenings of recent times. At one stage I thought he would have another major headache, but thankfully it didn’t materialise.

Can we turn it around in three weeks? Can we get our team to perform and score in the region of 15 points in a game? It is a tall order. But whatever happens in the next three weeks, we have to lift morale, instil a bit of confidence. Even in defeat, we have to show some fighting spirit. We are better than what we saw on Sunday.

Hopefully, some of the sting has been taken out of the Academy situation with the meeting of Co Committee on Thursday evening. There is a huge split there that needs mending. We had the spectre of much of that meeting being recorded and relayed, even during the meeting, by WhatApp, etc.

With the press excluded (and I was never that bothered when that decision was made),  there are now versions of the meeting being put out there by delegates and they are coloured by what camp you are in. Maybe it was one meeting that the press might have been a welcome intruder!

There is an audit to be carried out by Croke Park; there is also a final attempt to get Karl Lacey back on board. Hopefully, things will calm down. The rumours and headlines about getting rid of the Co Board with a vote of no confidence (after being elected by the clubs just over three months ago) didn’t sit well. 

Time for common sense to show its face once more. Time also for the silent majority to have their say at Co Committee meetings. Democracy is sometimes overlooked and I always felt that the GAA was sometimes too democratic. But in a time of crisis, it’s better that people speak up at these meetings rather than having to look and read social media posts from people  who haven’t a clue what is happening.