SUPPORTERS' CORNER: Bundoran's Noel Carr runs the rule over Donegal's display in Armagh

As a Donegal and QPR supporter, I’m a little depressed at the minute. My Premier League team were top of the table in October but now three managers later and fifth from bottom they have won one game in 20

Donegal are not firing either. I was up in Armagh early, around 5 pm on Saturday, after visiting the in-laws in Aughnacloy. When I arrived at the grounds, what I saw was unbelievable, people queuing after 5.30. The support that Armagh had was just unbelievable. When I got inside it was evident how poor the Donegal support was. It would be  generous to say there was 500 there.

Our performance in the first half was fierce defensive and hard to watch. We just had no penetration at all. But at half-time being only 7-3 down was not a bad return. We showed no forward play at all and it was frustrating to watch.

Then big Hughie (McFadden) came in before half-time and made a huge difference. He had been poor in the previous two games but in fairness he went in and got Donegal going. He went to the edge of the square and scored from a mark.

Then when Donegal started coming back Armagh began to play like Donegal did in the first half and the next thing the crowd got on their backs.

We started to find our feet and showed some fight. Between that and their poor tactics copying our first half, we found ourselves in a game.

As the game came into the last 10 minutes, questionable decisions from the referee decided the outcome. Burns must have taken 10 steps as he ran into space; even then in front of goal it was just a dive, but he got the vital free.

The diving aspect coming into games was highlighted on RTE on Sunday night, but in this instance the referee was well behind play and it was an easy option to give the free.

They also got a point from a ‘45’ that didn’t get a touch. Luck deserted us at that time just when we had the momentum. We were thinking at the time that we could get a draw out of this.

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One aspect of Donegal’s play which I feel needs changing is the role of the inside forward. If you were playing there, you would be well frustrated in the Donegal team at the minute. Look at Jamie Brennan; I would say his GPS is up there with anyone, back covering, defending and then expected to be up there when Donegal get the ball back.  It is a big ask. You could see it with Oisin Gallen also on Saturday.

I remember a league match in Bundoran against MacCumhaill’s a few years ago and it was a shoot-out between them. There is a fear factor now in forward play. They have much more freedom at club level. And it is not just those two; think of Michael Langan, Hugh McFadden, Jason McGee, all free scoring for their clubs where the fear factor is much less.

On the plus side, I  think Mark Curran has been very consistent in the four games so far. What I like about him, he is aggressive, takes the ball and goes forward with it. His first option is to go forward. Caolan McColgan was good the first day against Kerry and he is also a great addition.

As far as staying in Division 1 now, it is a big ask. Mayo are next and they have a lot of new names, but all have been fiercely impressive. Kevin McStay has a big deck to play with. No matter what team he puts out, it will be formidable.

At the moment we really need to win two games to stay up, that is a huge ask. Six points will not be enough because of our score difference.

The reality is we are not going to put up a big score.   Monaghan and Tyrone could draw but that would be clutching at straws. The reality is we need to win both games, but at the moment we would be favourites to go down.

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But again, that would not be the end of the world. Look, Dublin went down last year and they have far more resources than us.

But we are where we are. The table doesn’t lie.

Noel Carr has been a player, mentor and administrator with Realt Na Mara, Bundoran for his lifetime.
Currently PRO with the club.