It is never easy stepping into the shoes of an icon, but that is exactly what Donegal's Brendan McCole has been doing in this year’s League as Allstar defender Neil McGee battles back from injury.
However, the St Naul’s player is very much his own man. On Sunday he put in a good shift on Kildare’s star forward Daniel Flynn, holding him scoreless on a day when his team gained two precious points ahead of a potentially perilous away trip to Kerry the weekend after next.
“Tough, tough tough, and we knew it was going to be a tough game," said McCole afterwards.
“They got a good result against Kerry and came up here full of confidence and they put in a good shift but thankfully we came out on the right side.
“This was a game we just had to win after the disappointment in Markievicz Park and I thought we closed out the game fairly well."
When it is suggested that marking Daniel Flynn was a big task, he said: “It is always a big task in Division One and every day is going to be a tough one and you just take it as it come.
“You are going to have your Rian O’Neills, Con O’Callaghans and Daniel is a great player, he has great pace and great athleticism, so I was just happy to come out on the right side of it.
“Goals were vital, they win games and Paddy [McBrearty] and Ryan [McHugh] stepped up and delivered and finished them well.”
It looked a bit hairy for Donegal as Kildare dominated the third quarter but hit six bad wides.
“Every team is going to get a purple patch and it was about riding out the storm and thankfully we did that.
“Conditions were slightly better, but we have to take the learnings from this game and bring it into the next match.
“We have a week off now and then we will then focus on Kerry."
Of concern to Donegal is the fact that they lost their talisman Michael Murphy and continue to be without McGee, but McCole feels this gives others the chance to step up.
“I said a few weeks ago in an interview that we have a strong panel of 30 players who are all keen to get into that final 26," he said.
“There is big competition for places and when the opportunity comes, they will try and take their chance.
“Conor O’Donnell is a brilliant player and was unlucky with a bad injury for some time but he has really come back well.
“Shane O’Donnell is also a very good player and hopefully they can ride the wave and get confident with it."
