Wallace: 'Mickey and the boys are well able for anything else in this'

Donegal’s clear target must be re-gaining the Nickey Rackard Cup-and they are more than capable of doing just that, according to a former county star and manager.

Andrew Wallace says there is a great mix of experience and youth in the current squad and that the unexpected defeat to Sligo in the Allianz NHL Division 2B semi-final and the experience of playing in a higher division will stand to Mickey McCann’s men.
On Sunday Donegal take on Armagh after a tough enough test against Fermanagh where they eventually prevailed by 1-21 to 2-13.

“Looking in from the outside, it is clear that Mickey has brought in a few younger players as a few others have retired and he has got a nice balance,” Wallace said. “Donegal are going well, they were expected to beat Sligo and that is not taking anything away from Sligo’s fine display.

“But all they missed by losing to Sligo was an extra game with Derry and they will learn more by getting beaten by Sligo than getting beaten by Derry. They stayed well with Derry in the first half but Derry have powerful physique and that bit better class and ran out easy enough in the end.

“If I was Mickey McCann, I would not worry too much about getting beaten by Sligo and the boys will take a lot from that match and I think they are in a good place for this competition. I expect Donegal to win the Rackard Cup and I know that might be a dangerous thing to say as Mickey will not want the favourites tag. There will be no easy games and Fermanagh gave them a good test”.

Opponents Armagh have slipped down the ranks in recent seasons, a very different situation to when Wallace wore the jersey of Burt and Tir Chonaill with pride.

“Have Armagh gone back or have Donegal stepped up and it could be a bit of both there?,” Wallace wondered. “When I was playing it was nearly impossible to beat Armagh and now it is totally different, and they used to beat us fairly heavily in those years. Times have really changed”.

But the arrival of Ritchie Ryan, Davin Flynn and Michael Donaghie - the so-called “outsiders” - have really strengthened Donegal.

Wallace stresses that there is a big difference between these players and others who line out for Sligo, Westmeath and Kerry and a few other countries but stay playing with their own clubs in their native counties.

“There has been a bit on social media about this but the players we have are not outside players as they live and work in the county,” he added. “They play with their own clubs in Donegal, so they are not outside players.

“They are making a great difference and we used to have Paddy Flood, Ray Durack, John O’Brien and later Colm Breathnach and Eugen Organ and you needed to have that extra bite from someone from another to push you along. It is certainly there again at the minute”.

Donegal go into Sunday’s clash in Letterkenny as warm favourites to prevail. Wallace added: “I would expect them to win and if they don’t win, I would be disappointed. Roscommon and Tyrone could present much tougher tests down the line. You can never write off Tyrone, but Donegal playing at the higher standard will definitely stand to them.

"They will not walk away with it and Roscommon will be possibly Donegal’s biggest threat. Mickey and the boys are well able for anything else in this competition. There is a great panel there and there are plenty of young players and before you might have had a gap of four or five years but that is no longer the case. There is a very good blend of youth and experience and the young players coming through are all of top quality”.