'Newry a huge opportunity for Donegal and Down'

3 years ago 34

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Coverage: Watch Down v Donegal live on Sunday 23 April on BBC Two NI, BBC iPlayer, website & app; live text commentary and highlights on BBC Sport website; Follow text commentary of Cavan v Armagh on Saturday 22 April, plus match report and highlights on BBC Sport website

With the league campaigns behind them, this Sunday's Ulster Championship quarter-final in Newry signals a huge opportunity for both Donegal and Down.

It's been a difficult year for Donegal both on and off the field. But instead of dwelling on what's already happened, the players have the chance to stand up for themselves as the strong individuals and quality footballers I know them to be.

It's been a long four weeks since the Roscommon defeat, but this is where they can move past the pain of relegation to Division Two and really kick-start their season as we head into the unknown of the re-structured championship.

This is a huge chance for Down, too. They would have been disappointed to miss out on promotion from Division Three this year, but they are moving in the right direction under Conor Laverty and two big wins would spell a first Ulster final in six years and a spot in the All-Ireland series.

Donegal would obviously like to be at full strength, but they're missing several key players, especially in attacking positions, where they lacked any consistency or punch over the spring. Patrick McBrearty is a big miss. He's a leader in the squad, his free-taking is immaculate and you would always back him to get seven or eight points.

Without McBrearty you'd look to Oisin Gallen as a key score-getter, but he's unfortunately likely to be ruled out of this weekend's tie also.

Fortunately, Donegal still have a lot of exciting attacking players who are capable of causing Down plenty of headaches and the scoring burden will fall to the likes of Jamie Brennan, Michael Langan, Conor O'Donnell and Jason McGee.

Donegal's scoring return in Division One was quite poor so the aforementioned players alongside the pace and attacking runs from deep in the form for Eoghan Ban Gallagher and Caolan McGonagle will need to provide the attacking flair and spark that was absent for most of the league campaign.

Further back, Donegal have plenty of physicality and aerial prowess in the middle of the pitch with the likes of Jason McGee, Michael Langan, Hugh McFadden and Caolan McGonagle. With Shaun Patton's ability from kick-outs, the centre of the field is an area where Donegal could have the edge over Down on both kickouts.

But they will definitely need to tighten up defensively. Caolan McColgan and Mark Curran have been introduced this year but there needs to be a strong defensive effort from one to 15 against a Down side who have been putting up some big scores in the league.

And that's where Down will look to hurt Donegal. Laverty's side possess plenty of pace, agility and ball carrying ability in attack and they're incredibly adept at creating goalscoring chances.

What also stood out to me from watching their league campaign was their ability to run the ball strongly. They have strong one-to-one runners like Liam Kerr, Ryan Johnston, Miceal Rooney and Eugene Branagan, while Pat Havern - who scored 1-25 in the league - gives them that big physical presence and strong focal point.

It's critical that Donegal stifle Down's running game and silence what I'm sure will be a fired-up Pairc Elser crowd expecting an exciting performance from Laverty's side.

Donegal will be wary of the improved mood around Down football. The Mourne men endured a lot of pain in 2022 but I have been struck by their sense of togetherness under Laverty. They all seem to be pulling in the one direction.

The Kilcoo players are back involved, the U20s - also managed by Laverty - are into an Ulster final against Derry while they produced some impressive performances in the league, finishing the campaign off by hitting 1-19 against Longford and 1-18 in Offaly.

Donegal are tasked with piercing Down's burgeoning self-confidence, but I know they have players with the capabilities and character to do that and deliver a big performance and result for the county. Down the years we've always managed to get ourselves up for the Ulster Championship and from a Donegal point of view, hopefully that's the case on Sunday.

It would be a huge win for Donegal. The group have soldiered through a lot both on and off the pitch over the last three or four months and there would be no bigger shot in the arm than leaving Pairc Esler with a place in the Ulster semi-final secured.

Watch: Armagh see off Antrim in Ulster Championship opener

The winners will face either Cavan or Armagh in the last four. Saturday's match at Breffni Park is an intriguing one and Cavan will certainly fancy their chances in this one.

Mickey Graham's men put together a strong Division Three and will have been eyeing up this home championship battle with Armagh since the draw was made. This is the biggest game of Cavan's year so far.

Armagh got themselves back on track by beating Antrim in the preliminary round, and they looked impressive at times in that game.

But like Down, Cavan are looking to the Ulster final as their ticket to the All-Ireland series, and with all the momentum they've built up from the league, they certainly have what it takes to turn Armagh over and move one step closer to spending their summer in the top tier.