Bank of Ireland McKenna Cup
Donegal v Fermanagh
@ Ballyshannon @ 2.00pm
So Wednesday night didn’t happen and we now move onto Sunday afternoon to Ballyshannon as we finish off the section B McKenna Cup against near neighbours Donegal who are under the watchful eye of former Fermanagh player Rory Gallagher.
Each team can still top the group and with Derry most likely to put up a big win at home to Queens University it’s most likely this game really becomes hugely important to both sides, especially with the NFL just two weeks away.
The Fermanagh side have looked fresh, hungry and extremely well drilled thus far, while it was a Sean Quigley goal in the 64th minute which seen us over the line last Sunday against Derry.
We may have clocked up some great scorelines last season but it what we were conceding at the other end that will have made Pete McGrath think since the Laois defeat back on June 21st. We are now playing a defensive game that sometimes has us playing 12 men behind the ball but with two wins from two you won’t hear many Erne supporters complaining.
Fermanagh may not make that many changes with Barry Mulrone and James Allen performing impressively thus far in defence. Ryan McCluskey will hope to have shaken off the flu that kept him out of the Derry game, while Conall Jones will be pushing hard for a start after impressing in the second half against Derry. Eoin Donnelly will also be hoping to get game time before the NFL campaign, while further up front another game for Tomas Corrigan will bring him on and for Sean Quigley who is currently top scorer with 2-8 in this years McKenna Cup the Roslea attacker is worth his weight in gold to the side.
Donegal started with a defeat to Derry with not one player starting that started the 2014 All Ireland Final, but against Queens more players came back, while on Sunday it is expected the major players such as Michael Murphy will be sprung into action.
Donegal will most likely go with Paul Durcan once again in nets, backed up by defenders Eamonn McGee, Frank McGlynn and the impressive Declan Walsh. At midfield the pairing of Christy Toye and Martin McElhinney bring a great work rate to the middle of the field and attackers Mark McHugh who has returned from a stint away from the County scene, the sharpness of Odhran MacNiallais and top scorer Martin OReilly will keep the Fermanagh defence busy throughout.
The game itself is expected to go ahead in Ballyshannon as long as no major big freeze comes, it will be expected to be very heavy underfoot conditions and not much should separate the sides at the finish.
Both sides have bigger games ahead but for now local bragging rights will be wanted.
We look forward to a tight and fierce encounter.
