O’Donnell Park, Letterkenny has been the graveyard of Donegal dreams over the past few years.
They have lost to Monaghan, Galway and Fermanagh in the Cathedral Town ground-leading leading some to brand it as a bit of a bogey ground.
But Tir Conaill sharpshooter Jamie Brennan does not buy this theory for a second, despite he pretty ominous stats as they face in to a crunch clash against Galway.
“I would not pass too much heed on our record there and it is a lazy sort of excuse to be blaming the pitch,'' he said.
“There is a lot of hype and talk about it, but on the day we just need to be performing.
“I remember we played Galway two years ago and they beat us by a point in Letterkenny.''
Last Sunday’s easy win over Meath was nevertheless two very important points, according to Brennan: “Yes, it was good to get two points as this division is going to be a real dog-fight.
“You can see that already and we would have targeted four points from our first three matches against Mayo, Meath and Galway going into the League.”
But Sunday’s game will prove a much tougher proposition.
“Galway have some serious threats with the pace and finishing power of Shane Walsh, Damian Comer and Rob Finnerty and it will certainly be the most challenging game so far this year,” he added.
On the plus side Donegal created quite an amount of goal chances against Meath.
“Yeah that is good, and we set up some against the wind against Meath and when we got the goals it was a great cushion,”
Donegal were relegated two years ago by Kevin McLoughlin and all those steps and Brennan is determined that there will be no repeats this time: “You just have to grit your teeth and push on and those two other games against Tyrone two years ago and Mayo last year in the Super 8’s are also motivators.
“Seeds have been planted so that we make sure we are not in the same situation again.”
When asked about Donegal’s League ambitions for this year, Brennan replies: “It has been yo-yo for Donegal over the past decade but our aim from the start of the year has been to stay consistent in Division One.
“You have to be playing the top-quality teams.
“When I came in first, I was playing against the top level and it made you wonder if you were able for it.
“But there is a nice blend of experience and youth with Michael Murphy, Ryan McHugh and Hugh McFadden along with Peadar Mogan and Conor O’Donnell has been a real good find this year.
“I know it is only three or four games in but he is really solid and is playing really well.”
SEAN MULKERRIN: COMPETITION FOR GALWAY PLACES IS HECTIC
BETWEEN the jigs reels and hornpipes and a possible “two-hand reel” with the mighty Michael Murphy, life is getting very hectic for Galway’s tall and lean full-back Sean Mulkerrin or Sean O’Maolchiarain from Inis Mor, in the lovely Aran Islands.
Mulkerrin is a noted sean nos dancer, plays a Luke Kelly type banjo and loves gigging around the country as he also juggles finishing an Irish and Geography degree in NUI, Galway.
On Sunday Mulkerrin pays his first visit to O’Donnell Park, a long way from his sea-kissed Atlantic home.
He is the first of the Aran Islanders to play for Galway in the NFL and is a former captain of the Galway Under 20 team.
But, given his location on the edge of the western world, it has not been all plain sailing for the rangy multi-talented islander.
“In the summer, if I want to make a few pounds for myself it is a question of getting the ferry at 4pm for 7pm training and you are not getting back until 10.30pm the following morning,'' he said.”
Sean played full back against Donegal in the All-Ireland Minor Championship a few years ago when the Westerners won.
Apart from Mulkerrin, Rob Finnerty, Dessie Keaney and Cian Darcy have all moved up as well as Odhran McFadden/Ferry and Jason McGee.
That was a big day for Mulkerrin and is glad that new boss Pauric Jocye has called him up: “Competition for places is hectic even just to make the panel of 26 never mind the starting 15. You can’t be comfortable at all.’'
Mulkerrin has already marked Kerry wonder kid David Clifford, most noticeably when Kerry robbed Galway of victory in Tralee last weekend.
“Yes, he scored a great goal against me as a minor, but thankfully he did not score any goals on Saturday night and he is a great footballer,” he added.
And the return of the Corofin contingent is a timely boost to Galway.
“They had a well-earned break after winning three All-Ireland club titles in a row,'' said Mulkerrin.
“That is great for Galway as well.
“Their style is quite similar to ours with man on man and you have your duel and you keep moving the ball, but Corofin are very good at defending as well.”
