IN the early years of the decade, Mark Poland was part of the Down sides that tried and failed to stop Jim McGuinness’s juggernaut as Donegal swept to three Ulster titles between 2011 and 2014.
Only a point separated the pair at half-time in the 2012 decider before the Tir Chonaill men pulled away to win by 11. Less than 12 months later, in the last four, Down battled bravely but still came up short, 0-12 to 0-9.
That Donegal side was on another level to the rest of Ulster at the time, with the Mournemen considered huge underdogs on both occasions. And they find themselves in the same position heading into Sunday’s Ulster semi-final.
Despite several of their old stagers having since departed and boss Declan Bonner putting his faith in some talented - but unproven - young players, Donegal will start as red hot 1/4 favourites to set up a June 24 meeting with Fermanagh.
Poland, though, isn’t convinced they have done enough to merit those odds.
“Nobody will be giving Down a chance and I don’t really see where that’s coming from. There’s a lot being said about this Donegal team but they have a lot to prove themselves yet,” said the Longstone man, who exited the inter-county stage last year after a distinguished career in the red and black.
“They’re not as defensively set up as they were then, or as well oiled, so Down have a big chance if they play their cards right and guys perform.
“In fairness to Declan Bonner, he gave the likes of [Frank] McGlynn the League off. To me, that’s very good man-management because you can see it in the performances some of the older players have been putting in so far.
“He maybe weighed it up and decided the threat of relegation was not as important as the run-in to Championship. There’s a lot of new young lads who have really caught the eye and they still have the nucleus of the boys there and those are the ones Down are going to have to stop if they’re to win the game.”
Just last weekend Fermanagh nullified the threat of so many of Monaghan’s key players to seal the biggest upset of the Ulster Championship thus far.
Poland expects Donegal to attempt the same with Down’s key men, and says the Mournemen need to develop “a nasty streak” – and soon.
“They’re going to have to take care of the likes of Ryan McHugh, Michael Murphy and Paddy McBrearty if they’re going to win.
“Other teams always seem to be very good at targeting Down’s best players and taking those boys out of the game, so Down maybe have to develop that wee nasty streak and maybe target those three lads.
“They have to find somebody who’s experienced enough to mark them. It’s a tricky one, but they are very influential players and if they can nullify those threats they’ll go a long way towards winning the game.
“Down have three or four players who they really need to step up – the likes of Caolan Mooney, Kevin McKernan, Connaire Harrison and Donal O’Hare. Donegal will be targeting those players; they’re quality players and that’s what’s going to happen.”
Since retiring, Poland has enjoyed a watching brief through the spring months as the Mournemen slipped to relegation from Division Two following a campaign racked with inconsistency.
He knows all the players inside the Down dressing room and feels they are capable of more than they showed through the League.
They barely needed to get out of second gear against Antrim, yet Poland thought they handled a potentially tricky occasion well.
“To be honest with you, I don’t know if there’s a whole pile of progress as such. If you look through the team it’s the same old faces, you’re probably missing one or two key players who decided to leave the panel as well.
“In saying that, if they’d had their shooting boots on in a couple of League games they ended up losing, they would still be in Division Two. Against Antrim I thought they were very steady, they did what they had to do.
“They were in a no-win situation – if they had got beat they would’ve been railroaded but they won quite comfortably, they never looked in any danger.”
This time last year Down were also 1/4 underdogs going into an Ulster semi-final before turning the tables on Monaghan.
After a rocky start when the fancied Farneymen failed to capitalise on their early dominance, Eamonn Burns’s side took hold of the game and grew in confidence to produce a major upset.
That night at the Athletic Grounds will be in the back of the players’ heads travelling to Clones on Sunday, and Poland believes it is far from a foregone conclusion that Fermanagh will be meeting their neighbours.
“Down have the firepower to trouble any team.
“I would love to see them get a quick start and really test this Donegal team, see what they’re like. It’ll suit Down down to the ground coming in under the radar and hopefully we come away with the same result as we did in last year’s semi-final.”
