McGuinness mindful of Louth and Sam Mulroy: 'He'd make any team in the country'

Jim McGuinness is wary of the challenge Louth will bring to Sunday's Allianz League Division 2 clash in Ballyshannon, 2pm.

Sunday’s match will be Donegal’s first competitive fixture at Fr Tierney Park since the fixture immediately before the coronavirus pandemic when Declan Bonner was in charge for a 2-12 to 0-8 win over Monaghan. McGuinness took the panel there before Christmas for a challenge match against Roscommon, winning 2-12 to 2-6, where the proceeds went to North West Hospice.

Last Sunday’s 0-12 to 1-9 draw in Armagh means that Donegal have picked up seven points from a possible eight in Divison 2, following on from victories over Cork, Cavan and Fermanagh. McGuinness’s team welcome Louth to Ballyshannon on Sunday before a meeting with Kidare in their temporary home at Dr Cullen Park in Carlow on March 16 and then Meath’s visit to Ballybofey on Saturday, March 23.

Louth’s last visit to the north-west was also at Aodh Ruadh’s home, back in 2014 in the last campaign of McGuinness’s first tenure, with Donegal winning out 1-19 to 3-7. Since then the Wee County have been to Division 4 and back and last season under Mickey Harte finished Division 2 in a highly-commendable third place behind Derry and Dublin, with four wins from seven.

This term they’re in fifth place, with one win from four, although the feeling from Ger Brennan’s team - which McGuinness backs up - is that they’ve been very close. There hasn’t been a winning margin in any of those four outings of three points.

Louth lost 0-12 to 0-11 in Armagh, defeated Cork 2-9 to 0-13 in Ardee, before successive one-point reversals, losing 1-11 to 1-9 at Navan against Meath and then, last Sunday, 2-13 to 3-9 to at home to Cavan. The Donegal manager is more than familiar with their captain and talisman, Sam Mulroy, who he coached at Naomh Mairtin in Monasterboice.

“I watched them last week against Meath and they were in a really good position in that game to go on and win the match,” McGuinness said on Sunday last. “They were very close. Sam Mulroy, I know well, as I coached him there for a couple of years at club level. He’d make any team in the country. There’s no doubt about that.

"They’re well organised and there’s some real grit. They play with fire in their belly and they have been involved in a lot of really close games. They came to Armagh and lost by a point, same against Cavan. We know what we’re going to get and that’s the great thing about this division. Everything you want to get you have to fight for it.”