Mac's View: Tyrone coming to Letterkenny in need of points

We are into the last two rounds of the Allianz National League and Sunday’s game in O’Donnell Park, Letterkenny against Tyrone is a difficult one to speculate on.

Donegal are safe in Division 1 after four wins from five games and it seems more than likely that Jim McGuinness will use Sunday’s game to give a number of players a chance to put their best foot forward.

On the other hand Tyrone come to Letterkenny with just three points on the board and they are in bad need of league points if they are to survive in Division 1 for next year. With a new manager on board in Malachy O’Rourke, they had a good number of their best players back on the last day out against Galway in Tuam and were robbed when Galway got a late equaliser with a two pointer from Shane Walsh.

They will come to Letterkenny in a better state of mind than they were prior to the Galway game and even in normal circumstances it would be a very close game and a hard one to predict.

We just don’t know at this stage what team Jim McGuinness will put on the field in O’Donnell Park. He has a bit of a dilemma with the way the league final is scheduled a week before the first game in the Ulster championship when Donegal will meet Derry in MacCumhaill Park.

I know if I was in his position I would be going all out to get to the league final but that is the nature of the beast that I am. I remember back when we won the All-Ireland we went 14 months without losing. Winning is a good habit. I would doubt it very much if Jim will risk any players that are carrying a knock of any kind. It would be good to see the likes of Jason McGee getting some game time as he will be very important come championship time.

There are other considerations too with the new rules being firmed up this week. The next couple of league games will give Jim and other managers the chance to play under the new tweaks that have been made. For my part I’m reasonably happy with the rules. We couldn’t have kept going the way things were in recent years. It was not very attractive.

There are a couple of other big games on at the weekend and with Donegal’s being the last of the four Division 1 games in timing, Jim and the backroom team will have a good idea of where they are going into the game.

There are two very attractive games on Saturday evening with Kerry entertaining Armagh and Dublin hosting Galway in Croke Park. Kerry are in need of points after losing their two home games to Donegal and Dublin and if they don’t get a result on Saturday, they will be sweating on the final day with an away fixture in Pearse Stadium, Galway.

Dublin have blown hot and cold beating Kerry in Tralee but then looking very poor in the first half against Armagh in the Athletic Grounds. The Dubs probably need another point or two to be safe and Galway are in a much similar position to Donegal. They are top of the table but they also have an opening championship game away to New York just seven days after the league final.

In the first game on Sunday in Celtic Park, Derry just have to win at home to Mayo. Anything other than a win for the home side would mean Derry are on their way to Division 2 for 2026. On the other hand Mayo have come with a late run and if they were to win on Sunday, they would fancy their chances of reaching the league final. That should be a battle royale in Celtic Park.

Donegal’s game with Tyrone just cannot be regarded as a normal match. We have no information from the Donegal camp so it is hard to speculate. The scheduling of the league final and the first round of the championship within a week just has to be looked at. It is not fair on amateur sportspeople.

Indeed, there is a bigger picture for the GAA to look at, not just scheduling. At the recent Congress in Donegal Town the big change in the population base from rural Ireland to the east of the country has created many problems. There was an amazing statistic that 44% of the population is now catered for by 19% of the clubs. There is a big impact in this regard here in Donegal and it is hard to see where there will not be a need for amalgamations going forward.

There is a need for the GAA to have a review of many areas at intercounty and county level. In Donegal we need to look at a north/south divide for the league things like playing games midweek.

Congratulations to the Donegal Minors under Barry Ward on getting their league campaign off to  a winning start with victory over Cavan on Saturday. I hear they are being taken to Roslea this weekend to play Fermanagh and I wonder why the game is not in Brewster Park. I don’t think they would like us taking them to Magheragallon.

Brian McEniff was in conversation with Peter Campbell