Donegal in a really good place - Darach ‘Jigger’ O’Connor

Ten years on from Donegal’s last All-Ireland final, Darach ‘Jigger’ O’Connor could still be involved with Donegal but for a succession of injuries.

But his passion for the county remains high, now one of the many supporters who would never miss a game since Jim McGuinness is back in charge.

Back in 2014, ‘Jigger’ was in the starting team against Kerry in the final and was denied a goal by a finger tip save by the Kerry ‘keeper which could have led to a different outcome.

On Saturday last he was in Castlebar for Donegal’s latest game of the season and it was a game that took on life of its own with Donegal winning easily and the focus moving to the Tyrone-Cork game in Tullamore. Tyrone would eventually win to do Donegal a big favour and give them top spot in the group.

“I was laughing. I was cheering Tyrone on, probably the first time ever and it felt weird. Donegal are flying this year, unbelievable to watch,” said O’Connor.

The win for Donegal and topping the group has bought the Tirconaill side a two week break before their next outing in the All-Ireland quarter-final, something that O’Connor feels is very important.

“The thing about the two-week break is that you are not out three weeks in-a-row,” said O’Connor, who pointed to what happened in the Cork game when Donegal had just a one week break.

“I remember one of the first attacks, Caolan (McGonagle) is fairly fit but he had his hands on his head and you don’t see Caolan with his hands on his head very often.

“Obviously the players were tired, whether they will admit it or not; fatigue played a big part. Cork had two weeks to get ready for us.

“Going into the quarter-final now you are in control. We are going well and we have boys coming back. Conor O’Donnell’s back.  I thought I had it tough with injuries, Conor O’Donnell has been unbelievably unfortunate. The way he came back on Saturday, powerful stuff,” said O’Connor, who feels that Jim McGuinness will be scratching his head now to select a team.

“I can just imagine that training now is buzzing. I would say it’s a great place to be. Hard, yeah, but I would say they are all loving it and you can see it in the way they are playing.

“The lift it has given the county. I’m going to games now, it doesn’t matter where it is because, one, there is a great bunch of players but two, there’s pride back in the Donegal jersey.

“Whoever we get now in the quarter-final I’d safely say we are going to be favourites and if we get to a semi-final there’s no better man than Jim (McGuinness) and he has Neil (McGee) and those around him and Donegal are going to be prepared. It is something to look forward to.”

The Buncrana club captain says that there are a big number of Donegal players who are playing at the top of their game but it is important that we get Jason McGee back on the field for the quarter-finals.

“The way we have been playing this year, you could safely say there are five or six players who are our best players. But I think McGee, with his physical presence around the middle, is completely different to what we’ve had since Neil Gallagher retired. Caolan (McGonagle) was in there for the last couple of years but McGee is just a 6’4’’, 6’5’’ monster and he can move. You could see that when he was getting in behind against Derry, against Tyrone. You need players like Jason McGee. It would be Dublin losing Brian Fenton to be honest.”

Asked about his own clubman, Caolan McGonagle and his move to wearing the No 6 jersey this year, O’Connor is not surprised by his performances.

“At underage Caolan would have played a lot as a third midfielder for us, ending up as a six. A very intelligent player and you wouldn’t get anyone who will work harder than Caolan. Him, Ryan McHugh and Peadar (Mogan), the three of them are just driving from the back. You saw against Tyrone, in the 70th minute, the three boys were still going as if it was the first minute. And Eoghan Ban (Gallagher) is getting back to himself,” said O’Connor, who said that all of those have to be tagged.

“Paddy (McBrearty) is coming back into it. He has been brilliant the last two, three games and it’s great to see. Gallen’s going to be marked but there are scores coming from everywhere, Conor O’Donnell, Niall O’Donnell, Shane O’Donnell. If you’re an opposing manager how do you deal with that?

“And that’s why I think Donegal are in such a good place.”

He is hoping that fellow Inishowen man Caolan McColgan gets back in contention to which he feels will add to the strength of the panel.

“You’d love to have him because of his athleticism. But at the same time Mark Curran has been brilliant at corner-back all year and he’s been a bit unfortunate (to be replaced) in a few games. I think Mark Curran is a tenacious corner-back. The more we have him and others pushing for selection the better.  It’s an issue for Jim, but a good one,” said O’Connor.