DONEGAL WON their second game in the Allianz League Division 1 on Sunday as they defeated Cork at Fr Tierney Park – here are five talking points:
- A good start is half the battle
DONEGAL’S record in the League has never been something the county has prided itself on, although the late 80s to the early-mid 90s did have the stability of several campaigns in the top flight.
Donegal have only won one Division 1 title – in 2007 when Brian McIver guided them to springtime glory – although League silverware hasn’t been something managers have put on their agenda.
It’s a long way off yet and not something Rory Gallagher will concern himself too much with, but with two wins from two games heading into the break, Donegal’s odds of winning the League have been cut to 9/2 by BoyleSports
Winning two from two was the aim, if only to help stave off the threat of a relegation battle following the resumption.
“That’s unchartered territory for us over the last few years,” Gallagher said after posting win number two on Sunday.
“It is pleasing to have two wins on the board heading into the break.”
Donegal had good records in the League in the 90s, but ’07 was the only year to win three-in-a-row at the start since the turn of the Millennium.
For now, it represents one of Donegal’s best starts to a League in some time – which will go a long way to preserving Division 1 status.
[adrotate group=”24″]- O’Reilly fights hard to keep his spot
MARTIN O’Reilly is one of those players who can never seem to be sure of his spot in the starting line-up, but his style fits in perfect to what Rory Gallagher is attempting to do with his team.
With the likes of Eoin and Ryan McHugh giving Donegal a swashbuckling look to their attack, those lung-bursting runs now a real feature, O’Reilly slots into that bracket, too.
The MacCumhaills man showed his worth with Championship goals against Armagh and Derry last summer and in total he scored 3-14 in 2015.
He was one of those players Gallagher mentioned on Sunday as having really ‘matured’.
It could be a big year for O’Reilly if he can nail down a permanent spot in the XV.
Picture caption: Patrick McBrearty powers forward for Donegal against Cork on Sunday. Picture by Evan Logan.
- Donegal off to the sun in perfect shape
BEFORE HE even boards the plane at Dublin Airport on Sunday morning, Rory Gallagher can be in high spirits.
His team has posted two wins and scored 5-29 in the process, something that will, for the time being at least, debunk the notion that Donegal are reliant on their defence.
Gallagher has yet to welcome Colm McFadden, Karl Lacey, Christy Toye and David Walsh back into his squad, while Martin McElhinney, Neil Gallagher and Rory Kavanagh have yet to start a League game.
When he was plotting the course over the winter, it’s just how the manager would have hoped it would be at this point.
- Can Eoin McHugh become ‘something special’?
KEVIN CASSIDY, the former Donegal player, has big words for Eoin McHugh last week.
“I have seen him develop over the last few years at club level and for me he is probably the most talented of the McHugh cousins,” Cassidy, writing in his Gaelic Life column, said.
“Mark and Ryan are excellent at what they do and are good ball players but I noticed a few years back that there was just something special about this kid.
“Eoin has natural ability in abundance and has pace to burn but the trait I admire most about him is that he always plays with his head up and he can see things opening up in front of him.”
Cassidy sometimes polarises opinion, but it was hard to argue with his assessment of the Kilcar man, who looks to have a bright future ahead of him.
- Peadar Healy plays it down
AFTER defeating Mayo 1-18 to 0-12 in their opening game at Pairc Ui Rinn, it had been expected that Cork would’ve given Donegal a stern test of their credentials.
It never materialised, bar that spell during the first half when the Rebels scored 1-3.
At that stage, Donal Óg Hodett’s goal made a game of it, but Donegal soon pulled away again and by the end they had ten points to spare.
“We are not as bad as what we played today and we are not good as were against Mayo,” Healy said – and the Cork boss wasn’t exactly worried.
“We are somewhere in between so we won’t be getting carried away with last Sunday or this. We just have to pull up our socks and get ready for Roscommon now.”
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