Blow for Donegal and manager McCann as Davin Flynn opts out of county hurling

Donegal will have to plan the season without their talismanic corner forward Davin Flynn for the year ahead.

Mickey McCann’s side open their season with a home match against Monaghan in the Conor McGurk Cup at the Donegal GAA Centre on Saturday but will have to do so without Flynn, the Setanta forward and Tipperary native, who has opted out.

However, his brother Ethan Flynn could well be lining out against Donegal, in the colours of Monaghan.
More recently, Flynn was a massive loss as he was on holidays as his club Setanta narrowly lost out to Kilburn Gaels in the All-Ireland club JFC quarter-final

“We all know what Davin can do as he is not only a great finisher and a match winner on his day, but he also attracts the attention of other defenders which leaves more space for other lads,” McCann said.

“And I know other counties will be glad that he can’t be with us. And while he is a loss, we have to accept his decision if he hasn’t got the hunger for it and move on with what we have”.

But, on the plus side McCann is enthused at the emergence of four powerful young players whom he expects to be nailing down regular places this season.

“Liam Óg McKinney and Conor Gartland from Burt and we also have Ruairi Campbell, Oisin Marley and Steven McBride of Setanta are becoming very important players for Donegal,” the manager added. “Ruairi has loads of skill and pace as have the other four who are all big strong lads over six foot and the great thing about them is that they all really want to hurl and are pushing each other on which can only be good for the county.

“And we also have David Carey from Buncrana who is showing up really well too. This will be a bit of a transition for us, but I feel these lads are ready to step up.

“There is a fair bit of power there and we also have the likes of Jack O’Loughlin and Josh Cronnolly McGee and of course Ritchie Ryan at full-forward”.

Donegal have been training three times a week since December 2 and their wait will come to an end on Saturday for the McGurk Cup opener - a competition they almost won last year only to be pipped in the final.

“The Setanta lads have had a long season and some of them have been filtering back but Declan Coulter and Danny Cullen are not back yet, and it will be next week before we know what the full squad is and we will have ten or eleven Setanta boys on that squad,” McCann added.

The immediate test is a reasonable draw against Monaghan and if Donegal win, they are through to the McGurk semi-final in a competition that also includes Antrim U-21’s, and Down. And while McCann’s men will be favourites, he is a bit wary of what he expects to be a pretty physical challenge from the Farney men.

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“You could get a run, or you could be out straight away,” he said of the competition as a whole. “Monaghan were in the Nickey Rackard Cup a few years ago and on their day they can be dangerous. We had a comfortable enough victory over them the last time we met but we are in transition and will be hoping these lads can step up to that level.

“They will be very physical and that is something Monaghan have always worked on, and I am expecting a good test on Saturday. It will be our first day out so there could be a few mistakes but we have a lot of fitness under us and hopefully it will stand to us. Fergal Rafter hits the frees for them and Mark and Peter Treanor from Castleblayney are fine players also while Stephen Lambe and Brendan McQuaid are fine performers”.

“Davin Flynn’s brother Ethan Flynn is part of their squad so that is a bit of an ironic twist as he comes from very good pedigree. We would be hoping we could move into the semi-final as Down, the Antrim U-21’s and UUJ are also in the mix. So, if we get over Monaghan then the next match will be much tougher”.

Donegal had a fine campaign in last year’s McGurk Cup, heartbreakingly losing out to a late Down rally in the final, when they led by five points with four minutes to go in a thriller in the Dub in Belfast last year on a 1-22 to 2-18 scoreline.

“We played really well on the night but have only ourselves to blame as we were five points up with a few minutes to go and we had a few unforced errors in the defence that cost us dearly and you can’t do that against a team like Down,” McCann added. “That has happened a few times and we need to work on that”.