Donegal shaping as real contenders

TYRONE’S exit last weekend has added to the growing sense that Ulster is Donegal’s for the winning.

They have the look of a team who have tapered their season for the summer, and there is no doubting they possess the talent to go very deep into the Championship. Their biggest strength is that there are few teams better built to exploit their own kick-outs, while going after the opposition restarts.

That is because they have an exceptional kicker off the restart tee in Shaun Patton and he is not short of big targets to hit in Jason McGee, Hugh McFadden (left), Michael Murphy, Michael Langan and Ciarán Thompson.

On top of that, when they get a full press on, it makes it very challenging for the opposition to put the ball in the air because the chances are it will be turned over, while the likes of Peadar Mogan, Eoghan Bán Gallagher and Ryan McHugh are dynamic on picking up the ground ball.

That is why they will dominate possession against Cavan in Clones today and most likely win with a degree of ease.

Tougher tests will await, but no one will relish running into them.