MCSHEA'S SAY: Mayo will provide considerable opposition for Donegal

When Donegal go to play Mayo in Sunday’s Allianz League outing in Sligo they will be aware that this is a very difficult assignment.

Donegal have been there or thereabouts in recent years and a few short years ago they were perceived as a coming force without ever looking as if they had the look of potential All Ireland champions.

On occasions in recent years Donegal have played some open, expansive football but when push came to shove they were unable to shake off typically stubborn opposition in the province such as Cavan and Tyrone.

At this time manager Declan Bonner has assembled an athletic bunch of players but are they rugged enough to deliver against the top teams who make up what will be a most competitive league over the coming weeks?

Donegal have many good footballers in their ranks but their repeated failure to hold their nerve when the big prize was in touching distance against Cavan two years ago and against Tyrone in Enniskillen last year is a flaw that cannot surface again.

As for Mayo, their All-Ireland semi-final victory against the great Dublin team seemed to leave them ill-prepared for the final against Tyrone - a team that seems to take on a new life of their own when they get to Croke Park on final day.

Mayo’s disastrous final experience will have taught James Horan and his management team more about management and preparation than any victory could have done.

In last year’s final Mayo lacked mental toughness and had no enthusiasm to spare when Tyrone took the game by the scruff of the neck, and the criticism levelled at the Mayo players and management was very much over the top and unjustified.

Their manager James Horan could have been justified for jumping ship in the face of such criticism but Horan has stayed on board because he believes in his heart that he has a squad of players at his disposal who are good enough to win that elusive All Ireland in the next year or two.

I am not too sure if the McKenna Cup run has answered too many questions for Donegal’s backroom team. This competition is more of a sparring session than games that could be considered real battles.

Each county uses the McKenna Cup to try to unearth some new talent or to give players returning from injury some much needed game time. At half-time in Saturday’s game against Monaghan, Donegal followers could have been excused for worrying about the new season as the first 35 minutes of the game was rather depressing from a Donegal point of view.

To their credit the players showed great pride in the final quarter and would not have in any way been flattered if they had got a draw as they were totally dominant in the closing stages and Monaghan were clearly rattled.

However a nine-point deficit was just too much to claw back and the first half was and is a real cause for concern. When Donegal and Mayo meet there is always more value placed on pure football than any aggressive posturing, but this is a very big year for both managers Horan and Bonner.

Mayo supporters' loyalty must be close to cracking after the incredible number of close calls over the last 10 or 15 years.
Indeed there is a degree of similarity between both counties - the two teams are blessed with the two greatest and most loyal set of supporters in the country and both teams have an ability to flatter to deceive when it matters most.

A real positive for Donegal on Saturday was the excellence of Michael Murphy when he was introduced at half-time Michael kicked six points and when correctly placed at full-forward his genius dragged Donegal to the cusp of a very unlikely victory.

In looking at Donegal in recent weeks the common denominator in all their games was the inordinately high number of turnovers that they coughed up.

This is simply a result of carrying the ball into traffic and not playing with the head up. Apart from conceding quality possession it allows the opposition easy opportunities to hit Donegal on the break and cough up simple scoring opportunities.
We also have to unearth a centre-back with real physical presence and a bit of devil who will make life more than a little difficult for opposing forwards.

Mayo have their eyes on a big prize this year - a Connacht title will not suffice and for all the poverty of their achievements, Mayo supporters always seem to have curiously high expectations of success. They have a sense of entitlement possibly born out of growing up listening to stories about their great teams going back to the 40s and 50s.



In Donegal we too have an optimistic streak when it comes to the “county team”. A win in Sligo on Sunday would do a lot to justify our optimism. It will not be easy but it is very possible.

In Murphy, Ryan McHugh, Michael Langan, Shaun Patton, Eoghan Ban Gallagher and Peadar Mogan, Donegal have an abundance of talent - if they get the necessary support from the new kids on the block then the vital league points are there to be won.