Ulster Under 20 Championship: Donegal v Cavan
Donegal Under 20’s could be getting a major boost as they lock horns with Cavan in the curtain raiser for senior clash of Tir Conaill.
For speculation is rife the length and breadth of the county that star forward Niall O’Donnell may be lining out for Gary McDaid’s men.
The highly talented St Eunan’s lad had already lined out for Donegal seniors in the Allianz NFL but was not named in the starting 26 against Cavan almost a fortnight ago.
The Donegal management is staying tight-lipped about O’Donnell’s status, but it will be a major surprise if he does not start.
And he would certainly add some real scoring power to a team that has a number of the Donegal side that reached the All-Ireland minor semi-final two years ago.
Team mentor Francie Friel said Donegal knew very little about Cavan other than they could call on a number of players who have had success with St Pat’s Cavan at MacRory and Rannafast Cup level in the past few years.
“We know very little about them but any team that has recruited Marty Clarke of Down to coach them has something to offer,'' he said.
“Marty Clarke didn’t leave county Down to go down and train them unless there was some potential.
“Cavan have produced good underage teams for quite a few years and St Pat’s Cavan have won MacRory and Rannafast cups in recent years.
“So there is bound to be a good few of those players on this team.”
But Donegal are also fairly sure of their wares.
“We have a good mix from the minor side of 2016 that got to an All-Ireland minor semi-final to last year’s minor team who were unlucky to be put out of the championship against Antrim last year,'' he stated.
“It was just one of those days when they were caught and we have a number of players from that side.”
Goalkeeper Gavin Mulreaney, defenders Mark Curran, Peadar Mogan, Seaghan Ferry, midfielder Jason McGee and forwards Odhran Ferry/McFadden, Enda McCormick, Shane McGrath and Nathan Boyle were all on that 2016 minor squad.
And Luke Gavigan, Ronan Docherty, Colin McFadden, Conor O’Donnell (Carn), Aaron Deeney and Peadar Mogan were all members of last year’s minors.
‘They are a good group and they have put in a good effort, but Sunday is championship, cut throat and all the effort will mean nothing if we don’t get the result,'' he added.
Meanwhile Cavan will be backboned by around 12 of last year’s minor team that reached the All-Ireland semi-final, including the talented James Smith, Ronan Patterson, Philip Rogers, Cian Madden, Oisin Pierson and Gary O’Rourke.
But they have more experienced players from the 2016 minor side like Thomas Edward Donohoe, Stephen Smith, Conor Smith, Conor Brady and Luke Fortune.
Cavan have been doing some basketball training in preparation for this big test in Celtic Park and have been working hard in recent weeks.
