Mickey McCann rues costly Donegal mistakes as Meath edge NHL opener

Mickey McCann says Donegal need to tighten up on discipline ahead of next weekend’s NHL Division 2 tangle with rivals Tyrone in Letterkenny. 

Donegal opened their Division 2 campaign away to Meath on Saturday and were unlucky to be squeezed out at 2-12 to 1-14. 

However, the manager says Donegal didn’t help themselves with some of the concessions they coughed up to the Royals. 

“It’s disappointing as it was a game we put a lot into,” said McCann. “We led for most of the first-half but found ourselves going in at the break one behind. 

“But there was little between the two sides out there today. I felt we deserved to get something out of the game and a draw wouldn’t have flattered us. 

“We made some mistakes out there, like we gave away a bad goal and it ended up costing us. At this level you don’t get away with that.

“We gave away a lot of frees and we need to tidy that up in this division.

“A lot of it was preventable and there were some scores that were also from unforced errors on our behalf. 

“A lot of things were good like the performance and attitude. But there are some things we really need to get on top of. 

Donegal now welcome their Red Hand neighbours to O’Donnell Park next Saturday and McCann says the two points up for grabs, even at this early stage, are crucial. 

“It’s a very tough section. A point away from home would have been an encouraging start.  Kerry, Down and Kildare are probably a little ahead of the rest of us. 

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“The likes of ourselves, Derry, Meath and Tyrone are probably looking to stay there. We’ll turn attention now to Tyrone next week and we’ll need to take something there. 

“That won’t be easy as they’ll be targeting us as well”.