Electric Ireland All-Ireland MFC quarter-final: Donegal v Cork
(Saturday, Croke Park, 2pm)
Must do better - that’s the succinct but salient message from Donegal minor manager Shaun Paul Barrett as his charges take on Cork in Saturday’s All-Ireland MFC quarter-final at Croke Park.
Derry gave Donegal quite a fright in the Ulster decider and it took two crucial goals to see Tir Conaill home after a somewhat choppy display. Derry successfully negated Donegal’s towering midfield duo of Jason McGee and Kieran Gallagher for long periods and Donegal got off a very sluggish start.
These are key factors Barrett is keenly aware of ahead of Saturday’s big test: “We will have to step up on that display if we are to progress,” he said.
“We started fairly slowly and hit a number of wides early on, but once JD Boyle got through for that goal, it settled us and we got into the game in a big way. But I firmly believe that there is so much more in this squad of players. This is apparent in training every night, as I can see what they can do and they have not peaked just yet.
Barrett watched Saturday’s opponents lose to Kerry in the Munster final and was impressed with some of their forwards and midfielders: “They have some pretty sharp inside-forwards, who are dangerous and they have some pretty big players around the middle and in their half-forward line.”
Donegal are not short of a few skyscrapers themselves and they are focusing on their own strengths. Cork’s Mark Buckley is a big danger man and hit 2-2 in the Munster final and Damian Gore is also another threat. However, in joint-captain Niall O’Donnell, Tir Chonaill has one of the best minor footballers in the land. Joint-captain Jason McGee and Kieran Gallagher are commanding midfielders and Aiden McLaughlin is powerful on the counter attack.
Donegal travelled to Dublin on Friday night to prepare for Saturday’s tussle. It could be quite a battle but, if O’Donnell and the highly-talented Eoghan McGettigan are on form up front, then Barrett’s boys will be very hard to stop.
