McHugh praises young talent for driving Donegal forward

In what is his 12th season now with the Donegal senior team, Ryan McHugh has come through good days and bad days on the football field. His team’s 11-point victory over Cork in Ballybofey today was one of the better ones. 
 
In abysmal conditions in MacCumhaill Park, Jim McGuinness’s side dominated proceedings throughout, holding a 0-12 to 1-3 half-time lead before adding another 1-8 in the second half to start their league campaign on a high note. 
 
“We were probably disappointed with things in the first half, we gave the ball away a bit too easily and because of that we got punished with Cork getting the goal,” said McHugh.  
 
“But I thought our second half performance was very good considering the tough conditions. Of course, we have stuff to work on, but overall, it was a very good result.” 
 
While the Kilcar man may point to small errors between the two teams in order to keep everything under the radar, there is no doubt that this Donegal performance was full of urgency, conviction and flair, not seen in the county for a number of years. 
 
“I suppose Jim’s teams down through the years have been massive in terms of going strong in the third quarter of the game, we probably haven’t been great on it so far this year, but today I think we came out good at the start of the second half and set the tone,” the two-time All-Star winner said, reflecting on his side’s performance. 
 
“Derry gave us a lesson last week of how to play against a strong breeze when we only went in at half time two or three points down and they then came out strong and won the match against the wind, we then showed that today.” 
 
The most noteworthy statistic to the match was the fact that Donegal landed 12 different scorers throughout the game, something McHugh credits to the talent squad they have with players pushing each other for places. 
 
“It was massive today, the number of players that got on the scoresheet, that’s going to be massive in the league and going into the championship. We saw it with Derry last night and the number of players that scored for them against tough conditions. It’s not about just one man anymore in these games. 
 
“Every year you need new players to come into your squad, you need to freshen things up, and to be fair to Jim he’s given everyone a chance, like he always has, and they’re stepping up to the plate now. They’re also starting to make me feel old,” McHugh jokes. 
 
Reflecting on this new season, following on from the disappointment last year, McHugh is happy to move on and hopefully be a part of a winning side this term. 
 
“Unfortunately, last year it didn’t go my way with injuries and work commitments but it’s a huge honour to be back, I’m not taking it for granted and long may it last.”