Donegal the ‘benchmark’

Odds of up to 5/1 on a championship game between Donegal and Down wouldn’t have raised many eyebrows three years ago, but the identity of the rank outsiders when these two meet on Sunday most certainly would.

In 2010, it was Down pegged as the Ulster county to watch after a run to that season’s All-Ireland final and Donegal who seemed destined for further frustration after an ignominious championship exit in Crossmaglen.

And yet, here they are, with James McCartan’s men playing the role of plucky underdog against an opponent that has developed a winning habit on the back of a previously dormant collective spirit and work ethic.

Quite the turnaround, then.

“There are fellas on our team who are eager to make up for mistakes these past couple of years,” said Down’s Mark Poland, “so you can be sure that the 15 Down players will grind to the very end and get the result we want.”

Down could be forgiven for approaching this encounter with something of a chip on their shoulders given the disparity between what they have (nearly) done in recent years and the perception of their worth.

That run through to September three years ago has been followed by subsequent spots in the last eight, an Ulster decider and a league semi-final and yet talk of the toughest ever Division one this year was habitually diluted by the suggestion that it was inhabited by seven of the best eight sides in the country. That Down finished bottom of the table added weight to such an unflattering assertion yet Poland remains convinced of the county’s abilities after the spring cleaning and unperturbed by the perceived lack of respect from other quarters.

“If we had won the All-Ireland that year (in 2010) we would have still been dismissed as well,” he reasoned. “That is just the way the media works, the big counties always seem to get the headlines.

“We are not worried about that. As footballers we put in as much work as anyone else.”

Their opening defeat of Derry in Celtic Park was one up the nose of those who predicted nothing for them there but disappointment given Brian McIver’s side had passed them on the way up to the top tier. But Donegal are the ultimate barometer: “I suppose they are the benchmark. They have only lost one game in the three years since Jim McGuinness came in. They are the team to be beaten. It is great to be competing against these teams but you want to be beating them as well and we know that it is a daunting task but something we are looking forward to.”

Down’s ability to remain a player of note among the game’s upper echelons has been remarkable given the turnover in personnel in recent times with key men such as Marty Clarke, Paul McComiskey and Caolan Mooney and many more lost to the cause for a variety of reasons. The sense is of a county undermined by losses, of players as well as games such as the heavy defeats to Donegal in the Ulster decider last year and to Cork in Croke Park in 2011, but 2010 remains a beacon of what could still be.

“I came back on the panel that year after a couple of years away and if you had told me at the start of the year that you’d be playing in front of 82,000 people I’d have laughed at you.

“I came across a photo of that team in my granny’s house and the people might only appreciate the panel we had then when they look back. But new players have come on and the older boys are determined to get back.

“In the past few years we have suffered a few setbacks and disappointments and there’s not many on the squad with silverware so I think the older players are more determined than ever to make up for it.”