Conor McGurk Cup final: Donegal v Down (tonight, the Dub, 8pm)
WHATEVER the result in tonight’s Conor McGurk Cup final, manager Mickey McCann is convinced that hurling in Donegal is on an upward curve.
The men from the north-west have raised some eyebrows in advancing to this year’s final, which will be a first ever for the county, but the achievement is a marker of the steady progress that McCann has made in his four years in the job so far.
Donegal won the Nicky Rackard Cup in November 2020, beating Mayo in the final, but were denied the chance to play at Christy Ring level last year due to a tournament shake up by the GAA. They also put in a solid display in Division 2B of the National League last year, beating Roscommon and Mayo to comfortably retain their status for 2022.
Tonight’s meeting at the Dub with a Down side who play their hurling in Division 2A will be a different test entirely, but it’s one Donegal are ready for insists McCann.
“We’re looking forward to it, surely. We did a bit of training on Monday night but we kept it light and the boys are good to go now,” he said.
“We didn’t go into the competition with any real expectations apart from to get games under our belt for the league. But once we gave ourselves a chance of getting to the final – our game with Jordanstown was essentially a semi-final – we knew we wanted to go for it, to get the chance to pit ourselves against Down.”
Donegal wiped the floor with an Antrim U20 side before winning that second Section A game against Ulster University last weekend. In the absence of the injured Declan Coulter, Richie Ryan has been the star turn for Tír Chonaill, racking up a personal tally of 2-10 in that 20-point win over Antrim, while Gerry Gilmore, Ballycastle native Sean McVeigh and Ronan McDermott have also impressed.
McCann says that, although the McGurk Cup is a pre-season competition, that hasn’t been reflected on the pitch: “The games so far have been intense,” the Burt man who won a Lory Meagher medal as a player with Donegal added.
“The level of competition against that young Antrim side and Jordanstown was seriously high and we learnt a lot from those games. The McGurk Cup is great for Ulster hurling – that Jordanstown team, for example, are as good as any we’ll face in the league.”
Ronan Sheehan’s Down side made it to tonight’s final via a one-point win over Armagh and comfortable victories over Queen’s University and Louth in Section B. Eoghan Sands, Daithí Sands, Ruairí McCrickard, Pearse Óg McCrickard and Marc Fisher have been among those doing the damage for the Ards men and they may fancy their chances of picking up winners’ medals tonight.
“Down beat Offaly in the Christy Ring Cup a couple of years back, so that’s the level they are at,” McCann said.
“They are a serious outfit. If we let them play, we’ll be in for a long night, that’s the standard of difference that’s there. Down will be looking to put us away early but in a one off game you never know how it can go.
“We should have been playing at Christy Ring last year, we’ve steadied ourselves at Division 2B whereas before we were always up and down, we have four or five clubs playing hurling in the county when it used to be two or three and all that shows when you’re beating the likes of Antrim’s U20s. So whatever the result tonight, we know we’re on the right track.”
