Mac's View: Sunday was a good start for Donegal against Derry in Ballybofey

Tús maith maith leath na hoibre. Sunday was a good start for Jim McGuinness and Donegal in the Ulster senior championship. Derry came to MacCumhaill Park and gave us a few problems for the opening 12 or 13 minutes and again at the beginning of the second half but in the heel of the hunt they were not up to it.

Even looking at the Sunday Game on Sunday night, it was pointed out that Derry indiscipline didn't help their cause. Their best player Brendan Rogers was penalised twice and Donegal got points from it.

The game also showed that you can be punished if you lose a man, even if it is not your own fault. Derry got their goal when big Caolan McGonagle was off the field getting attention to a small injury.

We didn't fill the gap left behind and they got through for a goal. But what was great to see was our immediate response with Michael Murphy winning possession and Conor O'Donnell pointing. 

We had many leaders and Dáire Ó Baoill was certainly one of them. He was leading from the front with a couple of big two pointers and then hit a cracking goal. Our captain Patrick McBrearty also led from the front with seven points, four of them from play. I gather they only wanted him to play for 50 minutes because of his calf injury but he stayed on for some time after that. And it was great to see the reception he got when he was then rested for the final 13 or 14 minutes.

We were able to go to our bench and bring in an All-Star in Oisin Gallen and Jamie Brennan. It was great to see big Jason McGee coming in also even though he is not fully fit. I was watching him during the warm-up and he is a big, big man.

We got points from everywhere, including three from corner-back and two from half-back with 11 scorers in all. We have plenty going for us with a lot of competition for places. Michael Murphy got a full back and made one spectacular catch.

Shaun Patton again showed his worth.  His penalty save was vital and getting up to make the second save was even more spectacular. Brendan McCole again did a great job in marshalling Shane McGuigan. And you have Ciaran Moore with that blinding pace, it was a thing of beauty. Also mention must go to Hugh McFadden, who again put in a big shift in the middle of the field.

There was a great atmosphere about Ballybofey and a good buzz in the ground. The spectators were able to enjoy the last 10 minutes because the game was done and dusted at that stage.

The only negative was in that first 10-12 minutes when they opened us up too easily.

There will be expectation now as usual but Jim and the boys are well fit to carry that. I heard they had a barbecue in Convoy afterwards which was a nice touch.

They will now prepare for Monaghan and even though they are coming from the second division, they will always be sticky opposition. And as we saw last year there is very little difference between Division 1 and Division 2.

The preparation is good especially as we have two weeks between the games. It's onwards and upwards. We must keep the  two feet on the ground and take the fences as they come.

We have to give Monaghan the respect they deserve.

There was a good crowd at just over 15,000, mostly all Donegal. There were not too many Derry supporters. Overall it was a disappointing Derry performance and Conor Glass wasn't himself because of a hand injury.

This weekend we have Antrim playing Armagh in Corrigan Park, Belfast and Tyrone taking on Cavan in Healy Park, Omagh. You would expect that it would lead to a Tyrone-Armagh Ulster semi-final. But you can be sure Cavan will have a kick in them and they won't die. They picked up 8 points in Division 2 and they were within a shout of promotion. It might be better for them to stay there for another year. It will be interesting to see how they do against Tyrone

You would expect Armagh to have too much for Antrim, even if they have to go to Corrigan Parl.

Elsewhere at the weekend, there were no real shocks in the other provinces.  Wicklow did well to get the better of Longford after extra-time and Sligo put it up to Mayo in Castlebar but then Mayo were recovering from a league final defeat the previous Sunday.

This weekend good luck to the Donegal  hurlers who travel to Celtic Park to take on Derry in the Christy Ring Cup. It is a difficult test for Donegal, who lost out to the Oak Leaf men in Letterkenny in the league and they have to improve on that day.

The Donegal minor footballers put up a good show against Tyrone in the Ulster Minor League final in Maghera and are in good shape heading into the championship.

Congratulations to the Co U-20s who had a very good win over Tyrone in Ballybofey on Wednesday night of last week. It was an important win and gives them a home semi-final in a couple of weeks' time.

Finally, this week my condolences to the McGloin family, Kinlough and Bundoran, on the death of Brendan at the young age of 55. Brendan McGloin was a great surfer. His father, Frankie, was a former county minor, who played for Bundoran and St Joseph's before he became a golf professional.

Brendan was a big strong fella, born on 1st January, what a great GAA birthday but he took to the surf.  His death at such a young age is a big blow to his family.

Condolences also to the family of John Connolly of Monaghan, who passed away last week. John was an ever-present around St Tiernach's, Park, Clones as the main steward in recent years.

Brian McEniff was in conversation with Peter Campbell