THE night of the Ulster final, when they arrived home with the cup, Jimmy McGuinness stood in front of his players and addressed the huge crowd. “These next three games are massive for us. Really really big games. And we have got to put them front and centre. These players are a different animal now. […]
MY last column opened with the lines “what a difference four weeks makes!” This was in reference to Derry losing to Donegal after beating Dublin in an exhilarating game four weeks previous to that. Derry had gone from such a high to a low in the space of four weeks that it led to wall-to-wall coverage. There […]
By Shaun Casey OF the 15 competitive games Donegal have already played this season, 11 of them have been against Ulster opposition and they kickstart their All-Ireland charge on Saturday afternoon against another familiar foe in Tyrone. Of course, that included the McKenna Cup and Ulster Championship campaigns, while the northern province was well represented […]
By Michael McMullan DONEGAL manager has made one change to his side for Saturday’s rematch with Tyrone (Ballybofey, 7.15pm). Jim McGuinness has captain Patrick McBrearty with Eoghan Bán Gallagher – who started their extra-time win over Armagh – listed among the subs. Gallagher was a surprise inclusion in the starting 15 after missing most of […]
AFTER a whirlwind Ulster Championship, we were straight back into action last weekend with the first round of the All-Ireland series and four games down for decision. Kerry ran out convincing winners against a disappointing Monaghan team who now find themselves with a real uphill battle to continue their progress in the competition. Vinny Corey […]
By Barry O’Donnell A MONTH on from their painful Ulster exit at the hands of Donegal, Tyrone are primed for a quick rematch with their fierce Tir Conaill rivals, with assistant manager Joe McMahon hopeful that the extended break will work in the side’s favour. The Red Hands looked out on their feet at the […]
I DID say last week that I expected Donegal to be crowned Ulster champions but I didn’t quite predict that they would do so in such dramatic fashion. I expected the game to be ultra-defensive. I know though both teams set up like this, but the quality of the scores taken was unbelievable by both […]
By Michael McMullan DONEGAL selector Colm McFadden knows a thing or two about Ulster finals. The St Michael’s clubman kicked four points when they ended a famine to land the county’s fifth Ulster title in 2011. His final act of that Clones showpiece was the final nail hammered into Derry. As the clock ticked towards […]
By Steven Poacher THIS Sunday we have an Ulster final that is a repeat of the Division Two National League final that saw Donegal defeat Armagh 0-15 to 0-14 in a passive enough encounter that only sprung to life with 15 minutes to go. It had looked as if Donegal were going to canter to […]
By Shaun Casey THIS season marks Kieran McGeeney’s 10th in charge of his native county and also his 40th involved in the inter-county game. McGeeney first pulled on an Armagh shirt at u-14 level in 1984 and has given a lot to the cause since then. ‘Geezer’, as he’s more affectionately known, helped Armagh end […]
