Dr. McKenna Cup Group C: Donegal v Cavan (tomorrow, 2pm, MacCumhaill Park)
EXTERNALLY, it’s looked like a fairly tumultuous week for Donegal but in terms of events tomorrow afternoon, the impact will be fairly limited.
The Donegal public has been absorbing the news of retirements and defections that have whittled the remaining representation from the All-Ireland winning team of four years ago down to eight.
On top of losing Christy Toye, Rory Kavanagh, Anthony Thompson, Leo McLoone and David Walsh, they will also be bereft of one of their brightest young attacking stars, Odhran Mac Niallais.
Rory Gallagher, though, insists it has come as no great surprise to him. The Tír Chonaill boss told reporters during the week that he knew from the moment he stepped off the bus home from Croke Park after August’s defeat by Dublin that this would be the way.
The opposing poles host the views on their decision to blood the entire under-21 team through the McKenna Cup. On one hand, there is the exposure to top-level football that can only bring the young crop on.
On the other side, they are being left wide to the world out there. Were Cavan to get a run on them tomorrow and open a six, seven, eight point lead, then who knows how far it could stretch on a team of such inexperience.
That’s the risk they’ve taken though and, in the long run, it might just pay a dividend.
It is likely to be an unchanged team that Declan Bonner sends out in MacCumhaill Park tomorrow, barring the likelihood that he will give a run to young Moville goalkeeper Dylan Doherty – who briefly trained with Derry last year – in place of Danny Rodgers.
Last week’s performance was impressive in the nature of their attacking play. By all reports Michael Carroll was outstanding, hitting 1-3 in a man-of-the-match performance.
Michael Langan, Eoghan Bán Gallagher and Niall O’Donnell also impressed as they carved out four goals and could have had another three.
They were helped by the fact that Martin McHugh’s side came to play football and were happy enough to engage in a shootout.
Cavan may not be quite as blasé but the opening 70 minutes of the Mattie McGleenan tenure suggested that he intends to make good on his promise to have Cavan play attacking football.
It may be January but no Tyrone team ever takes any game lightly, as their 25-game, five-year unbeaten run in the McKenna Cup prior to Sunday’s loss at Kingspan Breffni Park proves.
Cavan, particularly when they were wind-assisted in the first half, weren’t afraid to let the ball in early to a three-man full-forward line.
That inside forward division is the one place that has really been given a shake in the line-up for the trip to Ballybofey.
Lacken forward Niall McKiernan makes his first start for the county in the number 14 jersey having come off the bench last weekend, while Joe O’Donoghue (Laragh United) and Peter McCabe (Killinkere) are in line for debuts as they’re named among the subs.
There are only three changes in personnel but the order of McGleenan’s line-up hints at positional changes.
Padraig Faulkner moves from the wing to full-back, from where Killian Clarke pushes out to wing-forward. His role in Breffni colours has been in doubt ever since his unexpected appearance at full-forward against Tyrone last summer.
Liam Buchanan’s injury that forced him off against the Red Hands last week rules him out, with his place at midfield taken by Cootehill Celtic’s John McCutcheon.
Shane Tierney is named in the full-forward line while Martin Reilly, who did a good job against Peter Harte last week, is handed the unfamiliar number six jersey.
Whether the positional switches are all mind games or genuine experimentation, we’ll only know come half three tomorrow.
Reilly is one of just four of their starting team that started against Tyrone in last year’s Championship. The reality for Mattie McGleenan is that he’s trying to unearth ready-made replacements for David Givney and Gearoid McKiernan ahead of the start of the League; the former opting out and the latter injured.
And while it is very much early days in his reign, it’s much earlier for the Donegal players. Another good account of themselves would be enough to keep Declan Bonner’s spirits up.
Team News
Donegal: TBC
Cavan: J Farrelly; F Reilly, P Faulkner, K Brady; C Brady, M Reilly, G Smith; J McCutcheon, T Corr; J Dillon, T Mooney, K Clarke; S Tierney, N McKiernan, S Johnston. Subs: J O’Donoghue, J McLoughlin, J Hayes, R Dunne, S O’Rourke, B Sankey, C Madden, C Smith, P McCabe, C Conroy, E Reilly
