The Alternative View:  Fermanagh bumps en route to Omagh defeat

After everything was rosy in the garden, who would have imagined that it would be Mickey Harte who would ruin the party.

As we headed for O’Neill’s Healy Park, Omagh on Saturday afternoon through Ederney and Lack with two in the front and two in the back, I was reminded to slow for the ramps. We were about to hit a few bumps in Healy Park also. The Ederney bumps can be negotiated while the Lack bumps are more stubborn. Are the Ederney bumps republican and the Lack ones unionist?

With half our load,  Edward Molloy and Terence Kilpatrick, answering the stewards call,  we were  in good time, arriving before 3 o'clock. Not long after Edmund Brennan swung in and had his 2024 Crossland heading for the gate for a quick getaway. (Bingo in Cliffoney is part of the Saturday night routine).

The forecast was for rain to arrive around the throw-in time of 5 p.m. Supporters were gathering early and most were well prepared and heading towards the stand.  It was a good choice as the rain and wind began to sweep in around 4.40.

The teams warmed up and we were told that Brendan McCole would not start with Gaoth Dobhair's Donall Mac Giolla Bhride getting his second outing at full-back. I was looking forward to my  old club St Naul's setting a record of three starters at senior level with Donegal, with Gavin Mulreany getting his chance between the sticks. But alas with McCole being ‘rested’ that was not to be.

Mulreany had to wait to get clearance from the medics after injuring his hand at training prior to Christmas. With Shaun Patton suspended for the opening league game against Cork, Mulreany's inclusion was timely. And he didn't look at all out of place. Imagine the odds you would have got on him being Donegal's top scorer with two points. 

He nailed the first free from outside the 45m line and into the wind and then did likewise in the second half. In between he had a '45' against the wind which was pulled slightly. Two out of three ain't bad.

I chuckled when I saw the comment of Diarmaid Slevin on Facebook afterwards: 'That lad was always destined for greatness, it’s not that long ago he scored 4 goals in the first half against Dunkineely for Letterbarrow and still got subbed off at halftime. Good lad Gavin Mulreany'.

Mulreany's time had come and he not only provides cover for the No 1 jersey, but pretty stiff competition for Shaun Patton, which is just what you need.

Searching for the positives from the 0-12 to 0-6 defeat would be mostly confined to the opening half. There were  some good surges from defence by Caolan McGonagle and Ryan McHugh but these were very limited in the second period when Derry took  a  firm grip. Free taking was not up to Donegal’s usual standard but hopefully that was just a blip.
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Donegal found the going really tough and even Mulreany found few options when looking downfield for kick-outs. It resulted in him going long but invariably this was always mopped up by a Derry player. The middle third was where the game was won and lost with Derry much superior in that department.

Things began to get testy on the field in the second half and even on the sideline with Neil McGee making his way down towards the half-way line to bring some order to proceedings.

Donegal seemed to run out of ideas and maybe a little energy. But in fairness they never threw in the towel. Being reduced to 13 didn't help and it was interesting to hear the reaction to the red cards and the flare up by the respective managers. Brendan Rogers was first to be dismissed but he hadn’t even left the general area when a number of other flare-ups began. Rogers was only reaching the Derry bench when Patrick McBrearty was also making the long walk.

Mickey Harte was puzzled and he and his player Brendan Rogers couldn't understand why the red was shown. When it was put to him that the referee indicated a stamp, the defence that Rogers 'is not that sort of player' was thrown out.

Jim McGuinness had a different view about his two players losing their discipline. And you got the impression that he would be using what happened to set standards for the future. His assertion that Donegal could have been in a better place to put on a press with 15 against 14 makes sense, but even at that stage Derry were looking the superior side.

Whatever slim chance Donegal had went up in smoke when Oisin Gallen was shown a second yellow card not long after.

Was either manager holding something back for their April 20th championship tilt in Celtic Park? It was hard to know. Both will have other important players available to them by that stage. Derry have the Watty Graham's Glen contingent to come in, especially Conor Glass at midfield.

And given that they dominated Donegal in that area on Saturday evening, it is an area where Jim McGuinness and his backroom team might have most sleepless nights. Conor Glass's display the following day in Glen's All-Ireland win was peerless. He is a special talent, something akin to our Michael Murphy in his day - a role model team player.

Caolan McGonagle's positioning at centre half-back has been an interesting experiment. Whether we will be able to keep the big Buncrana man there remains the burning question. His strength might be needed at No 8 or 9. Much depends on the health of Michael Langan and Jason McGee.

There is a theory that Cork are poor travellers when it comes to the National League. They will probably overnight for the game. Sunday will be one of four home National League fixtures for Donegal and four wins will be the target.

The journey under Jim McGuinness so far has been a relatively enjoyable one. Those bumps in the road from Ballyshannon to Omagh will not be encountered this weekend and with eyes firmly fixed on Celtic Park for the middle of April, hopefully there will be something to shout about in MacCumhaill Park, Ballybofey around half three on Sunday.

McKenna Cup final - Healy Park, Omagh

Saturday 20th January 2024

Donegal 0-6

Derry 0-12

Donegal scorers: Gavin Mulreany 0-2, 2f; Patrick McBrearty 0-1, 1f; Ryan McHugh, Daire Ó Baoill and Ciaran Thompson 0-1.
Derry scorers: Shane McGuigan 0-6, 6f; Declan Cassidy, Paul Cassidy, Niall Toner, Conor Doherty, Niall Loughlan and Cormac Murphy 0-1 each.

Donegal: Gavin Mulreany; Mark Curran, Domhnall Mac Giolla Bhríde, Kevin McGettigan; Ryan McHugh, Caolan McGonagle, Peadar Mogan; Oisin Caulfield, Ciaran Thompson; Odhran Doherty, Shane O’Donnell, Ciaran Moore; Patrick McBrearty, Oisin Gallen, Jamie Brennan.  Subs:  Daire Ó Baoill for Caulfield (49), Ronan Frain for Brennan (54); Luke McGlynn and Jeaic Mac Ceallabhuí for O’Donnell and Doherty (54), Stephen McMenamin for Curran (60)

Derry: Odhran Lynch; Diarmuid Baker, Eoin McEvoy, Chrissy McKaigue; Conor McCluskey, Gareth McKinless, Padraig McGrogan; Conor Doherty, Brendan Rogers; Donncha Gilmore, Declan Cassidy, Paul Cassidy; Niall Loughlin, Shane McGuigan, Cormac Murphy. Subs: Niall Toner for McEvoy (half-time), Shea Downey for McCluskey (60)
Referee: Conor Curran (Down)