If Donegal beat Monaghan next week, they’ll be in the Division 1 semi-finals

DONEGAL KNOW A WIN in Castleblaney against Monaghan next Sunday will seal their place in the semi-finals of the Allianz League Division 1.

Rory Gallagher’s side went down 1-10 to 0-7 against Dublin last night at Croke Park but are still in fourth place in the standings.

Dublin’s semi-final spot is nailed on with six wins from six.

And from here, it gets complicated!

In terms of a top four finish, Donegal have six points and a score difference of +13 and should they win next weekend will move onto eight points.

Behind Dublin, there are still three semi-final spots up for grabs with Kerry and Roscommon on eight points with score differences of +27 and +25 respectively. Cork are fifth with six points and -11.

Head-to-head record differentiates two teams who finish level on points. But if three teams end up level on points then it’ll come down to points difference.

Outside of the top four, only Cork are in the chase but they would need to beat Kerry and even then will have to make up a minimum of 24 points on score difference to pass Donegal. And if that even happens, it means that Kerry will slip – or could Roscommon who play Dublin.

In this afternoon’s Allianz League Division 1, the team managed by Malachy O’Rourke went down 1-17 to 1-9 against Kerry at St Tiernach’s Park.

That means that Monaghan sit on four points from six games before they welcome Donegal to Castleblaney next Sunday afternoon.

Donegal, with the aforementioned six points from six games and a score difference of +13, are in a decent position against a Monaghan team who have four points and -12.

Down have yet to pick up a point and today their relegation was confirmed following their 0-12 to 0-7 loss against Cork.

Mayo moved onto four points with a 1-11 to 1-7 defeat of Roscommon at Dr Hyde Park and with Down to play in Newry next weekend, will fancy themselves to take the points.

That necessarily wouldn’t be a bad thing because if Mayo win next week, it means with the three sides – at least – will be tied on six points. Therefore, if Monaghan beat Donegal the head-to-head will not come into play.

A Kerry win over Cork would mean Cork would also then be in the mix and Donegal have a much better record in terms of score difference than Cork, Mayo and Monaghan – with only one team falling through the trapdoor with Down.

So, in terms of points difference, Monaghan would have to beat Donegal by a minimum of 13 points to get ahead of them on the table. And even then, Mayo and Cork would need to win next week and catch up on the points difference. Mayo have four points with -12 right now.

Donegal could lose narrowly to Monaghan and even maintain fourth spot provided Cork don’t get the better of Kerry and Mayo run up a cricket score against Down.