Mac's View: Donegal did well enough against Tyrone with so many changes

Donegal did well enough on Sunday last in O'Donnell Park, Letterkenny against Tyrone especially when you take into account that they had 11 changes to the team that defeated Derry a couple of weeks earlier.

Tyrone pulled away a little before half-time to create a gap and Donegal were never able to bridge that gap, but in fairness to them they never threw in the towel and kept going to the end.

Our own Jamie Brennan had a very good game and was our man of the match, scoring four points. It will be good for his confidence and he showed other aspects to his game in contesting for the ball in the middle of the field and also chasing back and cutting out dangerous attacks in front of his own goal.  It was a good outing for him.

After the game we are lying third in the table, level with Galway and Dublin but I would contend that we should be ahead of Dublin on the head to head as we beat them in the opening game.

There was a good crowd in O'Donnell Park, close to 8,500 and Jim McGuinness gave an opportunity to a big number of his panel.

We go to Castlebar this Sunday in the final game and I don't know what the situation will be with the team as of yet. It's a game that Mayo have to get something out of to be sure of not being involved in the relegation battle and if they win they could well be in the league final. I'm hearing that they are not overly concerned about reaching the league final either because they have a championship game against Sligo in Castlebar a week later - similar to ourselves as we have Derry in MacCumhaill Park, Ballybofey on that day - April 6th

If Donegal win they will almost definitely be in the league final but it is hard to know what the Donegal strategy will be. It looks as if we will be without Patrick McBrearty for the Derry game but Sunday will be an opportunity to give some game time to the likes of Michael Langan, coming back from injury, and he would need to get minutes. It's a pity that McBrearty has picked up an injury as he was going well in the opening games.

It would be nice to see Jason McGee back on the field too but we will have to wait and see on that front. I don't see Jim McGuinness playing any player with a niggle, especially not at this stage so close to the championship and with our Division 1 status already secured.

What I noticed from Sunday's game against Tyrone was the lack of intensity and I don't know if anyone else has picked up on it, but I feel the game in general is lacking physicality under these new rules

But we should be happy enough after Sunday. We seem to be in good enough shape coming into the championship game with Derry and I'm sure Jim will give some more players a run on Sunday in Castlebar.

We should go there and give it a go. As I have said in the past I would be going for the win in every game and reaching a league final would be good for the panel and a run out in Croke Park.

Congratulations to Barry Ward and the Donegal minors on a very good win against Fermanagh in the Ulster Minor League last weekend. The win secures them a semi-final spot and bodes well for the future of the game in the county.

This weekend our hurlers and Ladies have important games and are wished good luck. Mickey McCann’s hurlers entertain Derry in O’Donnell Park and over recent years they have been able to match and even better their neighbours. The sides also meet in the Christy Ring so this should be a good guide to both sides as to their current status.

The Ladies entertain Tipperary in Lifford on Sunday and hopefully can get a win to boost their confidence for the championship.

Belated congratulations to Karl Lacey on being appointed as County Performance Lead of the Donegal Academy and also on his appointment as Donegal U-16 manager. It is good to have him back involved at that level for the county.

Congratulations also to Sean Taylor, formerly of Aodh Ruadh, on being selected as Club All-Star for the part he played in Coolera-Strandhill’s run to the All-Ireland Club semi-final. Sean is also currently playing intercounty with London and maybe he might return to play for Donegal in the future.

Congratulations also to Letterkenny man Mark English on winning a silver medal in the European Indoor Athletic Championships last week, a great achievement by the Finn Valley AC athlete.

Also this week I have to say I really enjoyed the Laochra Gael programme last week that featured Eamon McGee. The Gaoth Dobhair man gave a very frank interview and it was great to see how he has progressed in his life.

Finally this week, my sympathies to the McGarrigle family, Naomh Brid on the death of Thomas McGarrigle, who was a great GAA supporter of the club. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam.

Brian McEniff was in conversation with Peter Campbell