Mac's View: The excitement is rising ahead of big contest with Galway in Croker

I’m already high looking forward to the All-Ireland semi-final on Sunday next when we travel to play Galway in Croke Park.

Donegal and Galway have had some very good games in the past and have met in two previous semi-finals with Galway coming out on top. This is a great chance to set the record straight. I was involved in winning a quarter-final against them in 2003, but I wish Jim McGuinness and the boys the best of luck.

I hope to be on the road early on Sunday morning and I want to be able to soak up the atmosphere in the hours leading up to the game.

It is great credit to Jim McGuinness to see where Donegal are at and the supporters of Donegal are getting excited with a great atmosphere in the county with flags going up all over the place. I’m thinking back to 1992 and the songs, one of them being ‘On the road with the green and gold’.

I’m hoping that we will bring a big crowd to Croker. We travelled in big numbers for the semi-final and this team deserves our support.

There seems to be a good interest also in Galway. After beating the Dubs in the quarter-final the expectation level has gone up and the fact that they are also out of the hurling championship will mean that they will bring support also.

I’m expecting that we will win this game. I would have made it a 50-50 game but Galway have some injury problems. It looks as if Sean Kelly is in big bother with injury and will not be able to play at midfield. Then there’s Shane Walsh, a very talented footballer, who looked to have hamstring problems when going off against Dublin.

Both players have hamstring issues and they don’t repair in two weeks. I feel they would be a significant loss to Galway.

By and large I think Donegal are a very fit team and going down the straight, the level of fitness will get us through as well as Jim McGuinness’s expertise.

If I were planning for the game I think the weakest part of the Galway team is in the full-back line. I would be inclined to play with two up front. I know all of this is speculation but in recent games Patrick McBrearty has been coming out the field and doing a good job there. The Kilcar man is strong on the ball and maybe he could stay beside Gallen at times on Sunday.

But one of the main things about recent games is the fact that we probably need more scores coming from our wing men. They need to be getting a couple of points in every game to take the pressure off and create more problems for the opposition managers.

Our half-back line will be under more pressure this time out with the likes of Cillian McDaid and Matthew Tierney in there and it’s an area where Galway will probably target with kick-outs, because of their height advantage.

Hopefully, we will have Jason McGee back although the rumours are negative on that. He would be a sizeable loss but then the Letterkenny lad, Ciaran Moore did very well in replacing him against Louth. But from an aerial and physical point of view, McGee would be a loss.

But Galway have their own problems. They might be playing with a bit of a swagger after their win over Dublin, but we are also playing well. We will fear no one and there is no reason to fear anyone. Jim will have us in the right frame of mind.

Our fitness coming into the last 10 minutes will be a big factor but again, I stress, we need our wing forwards contributing on the scoreboard.

We have some bad memories of games against Galway in Croke Park and I’m hoping this will be one of the good ones. Remember the penalty incident in the league semi-final in 1967. I was a sub that day. It was a terrible decision by the referee and I will never forget his name, Eamonn Moules.

In the 1974 semi-final their goalkeeper collided with Seamus Bonar and he had to be stretchered off. Then I lost the top of my thumb and had to go off. We were both playing well at the time and it was a psychological loss to the team.

And Donegal supporters will remember 1983 and Val Daly’s fluke goal which turned a game we were well on our way to winning, losing in the end by a point. I met Val years later in New York and he admitted he was going for a point. Martin Griffin went across Noel McCole’s sightline and the ball fell into the net.

But overall, there is a good rivalry between Donegal and Galway and I would imagine that we should have a good game of football and I’m really looking forward to it.

In the first semi-final on Saturday I give Armagh a chance against Kerry. They have been around for a good time now and have a bit of experience. Kerry didn’t set the world alight against Derry. The Cliffords were held and Ó Sé is not going well either. While Armagh are a good side, you would have to fancy Kerry because of their experience.

But then you saw what happened last weekend in the hurling with both outsiders winning.

A Donegal-Armagh All-Ireland final. Wouldn’t that be something to look forward to? I remember back in 2003 there were three Ulster teams in the last four.

LATE JOHN O’MAHONY

I was very saddened to hear of the death of former Mayo, Leitrim and Galway manager, John O’Mahony. He was a gentleman and anytime you asked him for advice he would gladly give it. I remember him driving all  the way to Bundoran one time with two foolscap pages on a particular opposition.

He played on Mayo minor and U-21 teams with the late Seamus O’Reilly and he was a tough corner back who took no prisoners. I remember when I was Compromise Rules manager I had the current Galway manager, Padraic Joyce, on the team and he didn’t play well in the first test. I rang John (who was the Galway manager) for advice. He was at an airport in London and he still took time to tell me to praise Joyce, who went out in the second test and played well. John O’Mahony was one of life’s gentlemen with a great CV. I went down to his book launch. 

Condolences also to Pat Craig, son of Terence Craig, Glenties, who was called to his eternal reward at the weekend, much too early.

May their souls rest in peace.

Brian McEniff was in conversation with Peter Campbell