Sport

Donegal boss Ardal McDermott familiar with clubbing together

Donegal are expected to welcome Ronan McDermott back into the starting 15 for Saturday's Nicky Rackard Cup clash with Fermanagh
Donegal are expected to welcome Ronan McDermott back into the starting 15 for Saturday's Nicky Rackard Cup clash with Fermanagh Donegal are expected to welcome Ronan McDermott back into the starting 15 for Saturday's Nicky Rackard Cup clash with Fermanagh

Nicky Rackard Cup round 2B: Donegal v Fermanagh


(Saturday, 2pm, Letterkenny, extra-time if necessary)

FERMANAGH blurred the lines between club and county hurling last weekend when they lined out with 15 men all from Lisbellaw - a fairly unique situation, but one with which Donegal manager Ardal McDermott is very familiar.

He was part of the 2001 Tir Chonaill side which, with a full complement of players from Burt, finished top of Division Three in the National Hurling League and lifted the Ulster junior title.

It’s not ideal, he admits, but heading into Saturday’s winner-takes-all Nicky Rackard Cup showdown with the Erne men in Letterkenny, McDermott is well aware of the advantages playing a full club side can bring.

“Maybe the ability pool is a bit reduced, but the camaraderie and the fight and the spirit is all there. On a heavy pitch in the bad weather, that all counts,” he said.

“You’d have liked more players to be there from different clubs to widen the pool but, in another way you’re proud of your club and you’re proud you were competing. We were doing as well maybe as more recent teams.”

With players from Burt, Setanta, Mac Cumhaill’s, St Eunan’s, Buncrana and Ballyshannon, such a situation is unlikely to arise again in Donegal. An injury-hit panel struggled in the competitive environs of Division 2B during the National League as they were eventually relegated back to 3A, but the Tir Chonaill men have taken great heart from their performance in defeat to Armagh last week.

Just three points separated the counties at the Athletic Grounds and, considering Armagh will hurl in the league’s third tier next year, pushing them so hard gave a good indication of what Donegal are capable of.

“It was a performance we were very happy with and, maybe if we’d been a wee bit smarter in front of goals and not gone for goals so early in the second-half, we might’ve nicked the result,” added McDermott, who retired from inter-county duty in 2012.

“The start of our league campaign wasn’t that bad but, after that, it was horrendous, let’s be honest about it. At one stage, we were down seven or eight starting players and you just can’t do that to a county like ourselves.”

Among those unavailable were Ronan McDermott and Jamesie Donnelly, veterans of the Nicky Rackard Cup triumph in 2013 and competition Allstars last year. Both missed last week’s game, but are expected to return on Saturday. Still on the sidelines are Matty McGrath (broken hand) and Enda McDermott (cruciate), while captain Joe Boyle is out for the season due to work commitments.

Saturday’s game will be the first this year where they have started as favourites, following Fermanagh’s heavy defeat to Monaghan last week, and McDermott admits it is a strange position to find themselves in.

He said: “I’m probably more apprehensive about this game than the Armagh game because, against Armagh, we had our head in the challenge, we were pushing, we knew we had a performance in us.

“They don’t want to be too complacent because Fermanagh have been doing well in their own league and they’re going to be a real good challenge.”

TEAM NEWS


Donegal: P Burns; P Doherty, J McGhee, S Gallen; J O'Loughlin, J Donnelly, N Cleary; P Sheridan, C Mathewson; L Henderson, D Cullen, B Lafferty; R McDermott, P Hannigan, S McVeigh