Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
BRENNAN’S DREAD
Donegal edgy after Kingdom were dumped
PAUL BRENNAN admits Donegal are wary of a suckerpunch as they prepare for the challenge of Armagh on Saturday.
While the Championship hasn’t had a multitude of shocks so far, the defeats of Monaghan and particularly Kerry have opened up one side of the Ulster and All-ireland Championships respectively.
Three of the eight teams that made up Division One of the Allianz League in 2020 are already gone and at least one more will follow this weekend as Galway and Mayo face off.
Brennan saw the devastation on the faces of the Kerry players last Sunday, with David Clifford cutting a particularly disconsolate figure as he trudged off the pitch at Pairc Ui Chaoimh.
Brennan said: “We are well aware up here what it means to us if we were to take a defeat.
“This was highlighted again at the weekend with the defeat of Kerry, not only Clifford but their whole panel.
“I suppose they had bigger expectations this year but it just brings you back down to earth to see that it can be anyone.
“It can be Dublin, Mayo, Galway if you don’t bring that edge to try and get over the line you can wake up on a Sunday or
Monday morning in a completely different place.”
Although the knockout format is back for 2020 only,
Donegal are no strangers to being unceremoniously dumped out of the Championship in recent years, with both
Tyrone and Mayo pulling the rug from them in last round ‘Super 8s’ matches in the last two seasons.
Those defeats coloured their year more than the Ulster titles they won.
Brennan said: “Looking back on our two previous (Ulster) finals and our two previous defeats, our first night back after those matches we didn’t talk about the finals, but we talked about the defeats.
“Tyrone and Mayo. For me it’s the defeats that were the sickeners that outweighed the wins.
“Because we know what the group is capable of on a given day. And the two performances against Tyrone and Mayo were well under par for ourselves.
PADDY MCGRATH will sit out Donegal’s Ulster semi-final against Armagh on Saturday. Other than that, manager Declan Bonner has reported a clean bill of health with Paddy Mcbrearty (left) back in training and “ready for action” after a quad injury ruled the ace forward out of the last two
“I suppose that’s what keeps drawing us back to getting the best out of ourselves.
“We know we’re capable of competing with any team in the country on our day, but it’s doing that back to back and achieving that in every match.
“You need to do it every night.
“That we’re trying to put it back to back and get in the training on the Tuesday after the Sunday game and go harder that night.
“I suppose that’s the learnings that we’re trying to take, year in and year out.”
Allianz League games and the Championship opener against Tyrone.
Bonner said: “Everyone is OK, bar Paddy Mcgrath. He’s the one who’ll miss out. Paddy has picked up a knock. He has a soft tissue injury from the weekend. It’s nothing too serious but the turnaround for this weekend is too quick.”