IN 2013, a resurgent Mayo annihilated Donegal at the same stage in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. The memory of that defeat has been etched in the Tír Chonaill psyche and will surely form some private motivation when these sides lock horns at Croke Park on Saturday.
It is a sleepy Bank Holiday morning in Jackson’s Hotel, Ballybofey as team boss Rory Gallagher fields questions as easily as he ever caught leather for his native Fermanagh. But when asked about that heavy defeat, he is pragmatic.
“We cannot take that day back and, unfortunately, we have to take that defeat on the chin,” he said.
“And it is all about now trying to get into an All-Ireland semi-final. That is the big prize and, all year, we wanted to get to this stage and now it is all about enjoying it and putting our best foot forward.
“We cannot take that result back. The experience of that day and being beaten and how we felt at the time, we are just going to have to grind our teeth and test our character and resolve. The boys bounced back last year when it would have been easy for them to throw in the towel.”
Fast-forward two years and Donegal are facing a battle-hardened Mayo side who are still on that elusive search for Sam Maguire.
“You go back to 2013, our biggest problem against them was in the middle of the park with their clean fetching and winning breaking ball,” adds Gallagher.
“They have an incredible amount of talent available to them for the middle of the field and they are all big men. I think they are a top class team. They have been consistently up there for the last four years and they are now entering their fifth year. And they play a very distinctive brand of football. They are very attack-minded.
“Mayo have pushed Aidan O’Shea inside this year and that has given them a different dimension. They play a strong running game as well and are one of the top teams in the country and are very different to any of the Ulster teams that we have played so far.
“Mayo are bigger for a start, are bigger in the middle of the field and they have the option of Aidan O’Shea on the edge of the square. We haven’t come up against a big full-forward as such this season, so far. And their half-backs Donal Vaughan, Colm Boyle and Lee Keegan can play a running game as good as any other team.”
So how can Tír Chonaill cope with the dangerous juggernaut that is Aidan O’Shea in full flight?
“He is a huge handful,” admits Gallagher.
“In 2013, he gave an exhibition in the middle of the field against us and is clearly up there as one of the top players in the country. It is up to the defender who is assigned to him to deal with him - that is, if he plays inside. But he could play in the middle of the field again.
“It is old fashioned, but there is going to be a lot of one-on-one combat with him all over the pitch. Whether he plays inside or out the field, it will be up to whoever is marking him. Aidan has received a lot of the limelight, but we will be putting as much focus on Cillian O’Connor and Andy Moran, Jason Doherty, Kevin McLaughlin, Diarmaid O’Connor. They are all very good scoring forwards and appear to be on the top of their game.”
Donegal are facing into their sixth Championship encounter and have only a seven-day turnaround, while Mayo are on their third encounter. So are Tír Chonaill in danger of fatigue? It is a much-mooted viewpoint, but not one that Gallagher agrees with.
“It is not a concern and it is the exact same for Mayo, whether they felt we would come through or not they couldn’t be certain,” he said.
“There is very little the teams don’t know about each other at this stage. As long as we get the knocks and bruises cleared up, we are happy with the seven-day turnaround.
“We played them on April 6, we’ve had five tough Championship games and a League semi-final and they have had only two games. It is a totally different dynamic and we would like to think those hard tests will stand to us.
“Knocks and bruises are the only downside, boys love playing games, they love the challenge of it. They love the test against other teams. It is the collision injuries and the knocks you pick up in the games - when they are close together is the only down side.”
So are Donegal as tired-looking as they appeared against Galway in the run-up to half-time?
“Not really, as there is lots of evidence to suggest tiredness is not an issue,” insisted Gallagher.
“If you go back to 2005, Tyrone played 10 games to win the All-Ireland. Playing games gives a team great momentum, the boys love the buzz coming up to a game. They love the excitement of the day and, with supporters behind them, it builds a greater atmosphere.
“The downside of that for Mayo is that they have five videos to watch, we have only two!”
Donegal can source extra strength from last weekend’s win over Galway, according to their boss.
“Any day you win, you build confidence and there is a natural feelgood factor to winning,” he said.
“But it is irrelevant that they beat Galway by four points and we beat Galway by six. It is a new day. The first day out, there is always a bit of nerves, but it is good to win and it is good to win playing well in the second half.
And then there is the question of Michael Murphy’s commission...
“We will see Michael Murphy all over the place. If you told Michael to go in, he would want to come out as well. He likes to be where the action is and he will definitely be in the thick of the action.”
