Mac's View: Tired looking Donegal lose out in Cork but it's not fatal

The Donegal trip to Cork did not work out the way we wanted but there were mitigating circumstances. I believe they were just tired after three highly competitive championship outings in Ulster and a second game against Tyrone in MacCumhaill Park.

It was unfair to ask them to go again a week later, especially having to travel the length of the country and play against a team that had a two week break from their opening game against Clare.

My son Seanie has been good friends with Larry Tompkins from a long time back and he was talking to him after the game and the Tompkins said Donegal looked tired coming onto the field and they played like a tired team. He felt that if it had been a normal game Donegal would have beaten Cork. Even then after conceding three goals, Donegal almost came back to get a share of the spoils.

The big talking point was the turnovers that occurred on Saturday in Pairc Ui Rinn. The first goal came as a result and it came from a man you would never expect to get turned over in that situation, Ryan McHugh.

It wasn't just the three goals they conceded, it was the alarming lack of cover when those turnovers occurred. 

But despite everything that went against them, they have to get great credit from being five points down to get back level. They showed great grit in that period. There were chances with Michael Langan going for goal when he might have taken a point.

I always think back to Kerry in those situations and they would always take the point.

It is a defeat but in the overall scheme of things it is not a big loss. One worry was the injury to Jason McGee on Saturday and hopefully he will be fit for the future games, although it might be better not to risk him against Clare.

We have to look forward and we are now off to McHale Park, Castlebar on Saturday week to play Clare in the final game. It was supposed to be in Dr Hyde Park, Roscommon but I see that venue is now hosting the Mayo-Dublin game.

I remember us playing Clare in Castlebar in a league quarter-final back in 1995. We had just bought the Westport Woods at the time and I remember I had a short journey to Westport after that game, which was on Easter Sunday.

We have a good idea of what we have to do against Clare in Castlebar. We will be hoping that our neighbours Tyrone do us a favour by beating Cork and then it will be in our own hands. We will all be listening to the radio and what is happening in that Tyrone-Cork game, which I gather will be part of a  double header with the Cork hurlers in Tullamore or Portlaoise.

Cork are a big, strong team but they did suffer a few injuries on Saturday which might be significant. Their centre-half went off and they also finished without Sean Powter and Brian Hurley, two of their better forwards. We’ll see what they are like outside of Cork, but there is no doubt that they are not a bad team.

For the Donegal-Clare game I gather there will again be no TV coverage, which is disappointing, especially as Donegal are one of the best supported counties at the moment.

We had great support in Cork and more than 3,000 must have travelled, many of them going down and up on the same day because they couldn’t get accommodation down south.

The other big talking point of the weekend was the third defeat of Derry in championship football. Armagh were excellent in Celtic Park and went for the jugular.  But Derry have been hit hard by injuries, losing their half-back line. But I was very impressed with Armagh early on. And even when Derry threatened to come back, Armagh upped the ante again. Their two midfielders blocked out the Derry pair once more.

The format at the moment is crazy with three teams going through. It should be two and that would do away with the preliminary quarter-finals.

GOOD WEEKEND FOR HURLERS

Congratulations to Mickey McCann and the Donegal hurlers on winning the Nickey Rackard Cup on Sunday in Croke Park. It was just rewards for their efforts all year as they had defeated all-comers. The final, as is often the case, didn’t go according to plan and they had to dig deep but they got there in the end.

Congratulations also to Donegal Gaeltacht clubs Cill Chartha and Naomh Muire on winning All-Ireland Gaeltacht titles. Kilcar had to battle hard in the semi-final against the hosts Cill na Martra, needing extra-time to get to the final. But they showed their true worth in the decider with Stephen McBrearty outstanding for them. He has always been a talented footballer and could still play at county level.

Also this weekend, good luck to the Donegal Ladies who begin their All-Ireland championship with a home tie against Kerry in MacCumhaill Park on Sunday at 1.15, while the Donegal minors play Kildare in an All-Ireland semi-final on Saturday and they are wished the best of luck also.

Brian McEniff was in conversation with Peter Campbell