A mixed bag for Donegal hurling boss Mickey McCann despite McGurk Cup win

Donegal senior hurling team boss Mickey McCann was happy that his side retained the Conor McGurk Cup but less content with their display in the third quarter when a youthful Down side made a spirited comeback. 

Speaking after Donegal’s 2-25 to 0-22 win McCann said his side played very well in the opening period and were firing on all cylinders. 

But Down reduced their half-time lead of 2-15 to 0-10 to 2-17 to 0-19 as the Mourne men hit nine points in the first 20 minutes of the second stanza. 

However, Donegal finished strongly to deservedly win by nine in the end. 

“We were very good in the first-half and we would not be happy with the second-half as there was a lot of sloppy stuff. But that is what happens when you go in ten or eleven points up and we talked about it but still we were caught out a bit. 

“Two years ago, we were in a great position but lost the game but there was a big swing in momentum in the second half but thankfully we withstood it and we turned the tide around. 

“We emptied the bench, and you lose a bit of shape, but you still need game time for a lot of these players. Down were much better in the second half but we will take it.” 

Down had only five senior regulars but it was still a good outing for McCann’s men. 

“It is great to win something, and you can talk about Down but there is a lot more than 15 good hurlers in Down so it was a good victory for us. 

“We won’t get too excited but once again Gerry Gilmore is carrying his good vein of form from club to county as are Conor Gartland and Liam McKinney. 

“Gerard’s free-taking is awesome and that was an area we were working on. We knew that the only way Down were going to win it was goals and we stopped them from doing it. 

“We won’t be doing too much celebrating and we have Wicklow way in the NHL in three weeks which is a big one. 

“But look at the lads we are missing, Declan Coulter, Danny Cullen, Mick Donaghue, Richie Ryan, Ronan McDermott and Steven McBride have all to come back and we had a lot of young lads stood out as well. So we will be stronger in the NHL.”