McShea's Say: Donegal have what it takes to become Ulster champions

Life is a process that we all go through - a realisation, a reluctant acceptance of the fact that life is difficult.
In sport many use disappointment as a spur, something that drives a team to reach the level. Donegal’s defeat to Cavan in their last Ulster final appearance in 2020, will, I believe, see them use this Sunday's final against Derry as a great opportunity to show that they have the talent and the mental powers to make the adjustments to deal with the task in front of them.

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Playing in an Ulster final does not demand the best you can give; it demands that you produce it on the day.
So, this Donegal side needs to seize the opportunity of winning this final. There is no guarantee that the prospect of going back to a final is a given, and this ability to do the seizing on the day is an ineluctable aspect of a very good team.

After what turned out to be an almost routine win against a highly rated Armagh team, Donegal squared up to Cavan in Clones as hot favourites to progress. But over the years Cavan had a way of making Donegal feel uncomfortable.
We never knew what to expect of Cavan, and that may have been because Cavan never quite knew what to expect of themselves.

After 58 minutes Donegal and Cavan were all square, and after several anxious moments Donegal, with the help of two fortuitous goals, won with a bit to spare, 2-16 to 0-16.

Donegal’s display against Cavan contained a number of flaws and it is fair to say that much improvement is required against Derry if Michael Murphy is to collect the Anglo Celt Cup once again. Derry’s march to this final was impressive as beating Tyrone and Monaghan makes for a most impressive CV and so it should. Tyrone’s display against Derry was very poor and speaking to a Tyrone man who knows his football, when I asked him what went wrong his reply was interesting, he said, and I quote: “Maybe they had too many All Stars!”

He was not in any way being cynical about his team, but the clear inference was that their eye was off the ball after their unexpected success last year. I did fancy Derry to beat Monaghan and they were most impressive in that game, but my reason for expecting Derry to prevail was quite simple.

Monaghan were waning, beaten now by age and fatigue as much as by a Derry side just discovering their own potential. In Rory Gallagher, Derry have a manager who has a forensic knowledge of Donegal football and its footballers and he will have his team exceptionally well prepared for the Donegal challenge.

His message to his team will be something like this: “Put your marker under pressure, ask questions of him and see how he responds”.

I am sure that Derry have spent much time in the last two weeks discussing tactics and Donegal probably did the same. Donegal have not played to their potential for 70 minutes on their way to the final but spending too much time worrying about the opposition is not what is required.

Getting their own game plan is paramount. Ordinarily when a team gets to a final it is about going through the rituals of reinforcement. When you have got that far chances are that the team should be settled, and the football should be uncomplicated.

Donegal did dominate the middle of the park against Armagh when Hugh McFadden, Jason Mc Gee and Michael Langan all gave an exhibition of high fielding. Against Cavan we struggled in this area simply because the Cavan keeper Raymond Galligan’s kicking was top class and effectively denied the Donegal men the chance to dominate.

Cavan also caused the Donegal defence many problems as the roving movement of their forwards unsettled Donegal, their kick passing into space for their full-forward Paddy Lynch was also effective as no full back can stop such supply.

In this regard the Derry half-back line is top class at driving forward and again the Donegal half forwards are not noted for tracking back, they will have to work their socks off in Clones when not in possession to give their defence the support that is paramount in the modern game.

This will be a competitive and close Ulster final, and despite Derry’s impressive form I believe that Donegal have a more balanced team with greater potential for improvement than Derry.

Making the correct calls on the sideline will play a major role in the outcome of this final, too. Lateral football which is simply ineffective is not the way to win a provincial title and simply gives the opposition time to regroup and get a defensive structure in place. I hope that Donegal are much more direct in their approach on Sunday. Shaun Patton is an excellent dead ball kicker, but one error with a short kick out can be fatal and the strategy in this area against Derry must be safety first.

A feature of Derry’s performances in the championship to date was their dominance early in both games against Tyrone and Monaghan. Donegal must take control early in Sunday’s final and create self-doubts in a set of players playing in their first Ulster final and ask the question-If things go wrong what is in the Derry manual?

After what should be a close encounter I am confident that the Anglo Celt Cup will make it back to the Diamond in Donegal for Sunday night.