Donegal's dynamic duo return for NHL opener against London

Donegal hurling team boss Mickey McCann has been handed a double bonus as his side open their Division 2B of the NHL campaign with a home tie against London in Letterkenny on Sunday at 12.

For Setanta duo Danny Cullen and Declan Coulter are both back in the action and in contention for places. It is very good news for Donegal, for while both are approaching their mid 30s, they bring loads of hurling nous, ability and experience to the team.

Donegal had a fine Conor McGurk campaign and were very unlucky not to beat Down in the final in Belfast two weeks ago. The Down side staged a late smash and grab act to deny Donegal who missed the steadying presence of the classy and clever Cullen in defence.

Meanwhile Declan Coulter presents another great option from play and frees, and the ex-Armagh star has been a bulwark of Donegal sides in recent years.

McCann has a team that has the ability to have serious ambition this year in a League where Wicklow and Derry, if the Slaughtneil contingent are all back having returned with the footballers last weekend, are the top guns. But McCann firmly believes that on their day, Donegal are a match for any team in this Division.

“Danny Cullen landed back from honeymoon last Saturday and he will have a full week’s training behind him, and his fitness levels are pretty good, it is just a question of first touch, and we shall find that out soon,” McCann added.

“Apart from that, Declan Coulter has been back training with us for the past weeks or so and he will be in contention for a start. Ruairi Campbell is coming back after playing in the U-21 final last Sunday and Jack O’Loughlin is our only injury concern as he is carrying a slight niggle”

“It is good to have Danny and Declan back and you can’t beat experience and ability and we are hoping to build a new team around some of our more experienced players. They will have a big part to play in the near future.

“Declan gives us another option for hitting frees along with Ritchie Ryan and Davin Flynn so we are spoiled for choice, but we will be sticking with Ritchie for the present and it is great to have options”.

McCann is in the dark about the London team - saying they change so much from year to year. But Sunday is a great chance to banish the blues of the McGurk Cup final defeat.

“You would think that with Covid now they would travel a wee bit stronger,” he said. "We got a lot out of the McGurk Cup, and you always learn more from losing tight games than winning.

“There are things to work on in terms of our game plan and maybe we went too long towards the end of the Down match where maybe we could have worked the ball out a bit more.

“We have learned a lot and learned a lot about our players and if we bring that same work rate that we had in the McGurk Cup to the League, then we won’t be far away and we are well able to beat any team in this division.

“They are also going to be well able to beat us and you could be at the bottom of the table or the top and it is going to come down to some fine margins. But we are in a good place to push for the top, but the first two games will be massive and if we get two points out of London and then Sligo away, it would be a great start.

“In the League, the second or third spot plays off in the semi-final, so it is a good carrot. But our prime objective is to stay in that Division and everything else would be a bonus”.