McShea's Say: Retaining Division One status is a major plus

In what I believe was the most difficult and competitive Allianz League Division 1 for many years, it was gratifying to see Donegal maintain their place among the top eight teams when they beat Armagh in Letterkenny on Sunday. 

Last year both Donegal and Armagh were both consigned to looking across their borders as bonfires burned on neighbouring estates as Tyrone celebrated their wonderful achievement of bringing Sam Maguire to the province.

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If evidence were needed that Tyrone will be a major force in Ulster this year it was confirmed when they went to Kerry last Sunday and won a game that they needed to preserve their top-flight status. That was quite simply an outstanding performance, while Monaghan also showed their traditional “bottle” in a winner take all joust against Dublin. 

This all adds up to an exciting Ulster championship when the other five teams in the province are more than capable of causing a surprise or two. 

Looking at both Armagh and Donegal at the weekend it would be difficult to envisage either side walking up the steps of the Hogan stand in mid-summer to collect Sam. 

However, when Tyrone beat Donegal in Enniskillen in last year’s championship, we did not expect them to win the football final. No doubt both Armagh and Donegal squads and their management will have a reluctance to accept the fact that success is difficult to attain, and their wildest dreams are not just wild and dreamy but very attainable. 

Regarding Armagh, no doubt they will use Sunday’s disappointment as a spur, something that drives a team to reach the most ferocious level, to achieve victory in Ballybofey in just over three weeks’ time. 

Good teams with the ability to succeed never let setbacks set them back. Armagh will believe that their own talent, with their own mental powers will be more than adequate for the task in front of them. Their dream of victory in Ballybofey will not need to be compromised. 

The “action” after the final whistle when several players from both sides got involved in some handbag stuff was to say the least disappointing and after their victory Donegal would have been well advised not to get involved. 

I do hope that no suspensions happen because of this what can only be described as petty, silly carry on. 

To their credit Donegal showed real determination to prevail when for much of the second half they were playing second fiddle to the visitors. 

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It was difficult to understand why Armagh left two or three of their best players on the line at throw-in time, and one was made to wonder if qualifying for a league final against Kerry was a somewhat unpalatable proposition?

In previewing this game, I felt that Michael Murphy and Patrick Mc Brearty needed much more support in the scoring stakes, but both were left to do most of the heavy lifting yet again. 

They scored eleven points of their team’s total of 1-14,and the only other forward to raise a flag was Jamie Brennan who looked very sharp before his injury. This almost total dependence on Murphy and McBrearty is a major concern going forward and needs to be addressed between now and championship time. 

The other worry is the team’s ability to go for a very prolonged period without troubling the scoreboard operator. Even at this late stage of the year Donegal needed a much more coherent attacking strategy. 

With Murphy at full-forward his presence and style should dictate the forward pattern. What needs to come into the full-forwards sphere of operation is quality ball, hit four or five yards either side of Murphy. 

He is a two-sided player, a head up footballer with vision as he yet again showed last Sunday. Sport does not create character, it reveals it.That will be true in MacCumhaill Park in a few weeks’ time when Armagh are back in town. 

This is an occasion to look forward to. Let us hope that Donegal’s preparation is used wisely. As the dispute regarding players expenses becomes tiresome and rumbles on it was interesting to read that Donegal manager Declan Bonner did not speak to the press after the Armagh match on Sunday. 

Declan did make himself available after the two previous league games, and it was suggested that at the request of Donegal players, according to county officials he opted to stay quiet on Sunday. 

I believe that a media ban is not just depriving the press of copy, it is depriving the supporters a part of their pleasure in getting what they may believe is the inside track about their team, when it really is not. Most press conferences and interviews tell us very little. Most sportspeople are very good at them. It is a skill they deliberately cultivate.

The demand for quotes is one of the manias of modern journalism, no match report is complete until the manager has added his own views and mostly leaden cliches to the mix. Still, it would be nice if Declan Bonner was still being asked for quotes in July!