Ulster Minor Football Championship preliminary round: Donegal v Tyrone (tomorrow, 2.15pm, MacCumhaill Park)
HAVING won what was only their sixth Ulster minor title in the county’s history last summer, this is a level of expectation somewhat unknown in Donegal.
But for this crop of players that has become accustomed to winning, the weight of favouritism that they’ve carried for 18 months now seems to weigh very lightly upon them.
The fact that they annexed the provincial crown and reached the All-Ireland final last year is not the reason for their heady hopes for 2015, mind.
Of last year’s squad, half a dozen return for Declan Bonner. The hugely talented Michéal Carroll captains the side, and Gary McFadden, Ethan O’Donnell, Stephen McMenamin, Conor Doherty, and goalkeeper Danny Rodgers are all going in search of consecutive Ulster medals.
They would be the first Donegal team in history to achieve that, and there is the widely held belief that tomorrow’s clash with Tyrone could be the toughest test they encounter on the provincial journey.
Their Ulster League meeting was a stroll. Donegal came away from Strabane with a 1-16 to 0-7 victory en route to the title, which they claimed with a win in the decider over Derry that was more comfortable than the final six-point margin suggests.
Tyrone’s League campaign was initially hampered by the progression of St Patrick’s, Dungannon (beaten finalists) and Omagh CBS (semi-finalists) to the latter stages of the MacRory Cup, but they were all back in harness for that end of March clash with Donegal.
Having earlier drawn with Derry, the defeat by Donegal ruled Tyrone out of contention for a place in the final. They did go on to win the Shield with victories over Monaghan and Cavan, but that will far from satisfy their hunger.
Only Cormac O’Hagan, Fiontain McClure, and Conan McLernon remain from the side that was beaten by Monaghan in last year’s Championship.
As many as 13 of the Omagh and Dungannon MacRory squads are included in the Tyrone set-up, though they are without injured duo of James Darcy (broken ankle) and Liam Rafferty (broken collarbone).
They will hope that an attack that contains O’Hagan, McClure, and Daniel Kerr can trouble a Donegal side whose set-up mirrors that of their seniors.
The first thing that strikes you about this Donegal minor team is that they are bordering on being physically bigger still than last year’s crop.
Earlier this week, Mickey Donnelly described the Ulster Minor League clash between Tyrone and Donegal as being “men against boys.”
Declan Bonner’s side is among the most physically imposing minor teams you will see. Allied to that is the superb kicking of their 'keeper Rodgers, whose re-starts play a significant part in Donegal’s success.
Arguably the most impressive thing about their League final win over Derry – which was achieved without key forward Naoise Ó Baoill – was how the Donegal players learnt on their feet.
Derry won the first three kick-outs by hitting Conor Glass. From there on, they paid him special attention and took total control of the midfield.
The Oak Leafers had implemented a defensive system after taking a hammering in the League and while Donegal struggled with it for the opening 20 minutes in Omagh, the men in yellow soon worked it out and began to pick holes in the Derry rearguard.
The fact that arguably the two strongest sides in the competition meet in the preliminary round highlights the inadequacies of the current system.
Unlike in Munster and Leinster, there is still no back door in the Ulster Minor Football Championship. That may be set to change from next year but that will be of no consolation to tomorrow’s losers.
The safe money is on Donegal progressing.
