By Shaun Casey

AN opening round journey to Garvaghey probably isn’t the start that Mickey McCann and Donegal would have asked for as they begin their Division Three league campaign, but they’ve been dealt the short straw in round one.

Donegal and their neighbours Tyrone both fell out of Division Two last season and will be determined to make an immediate return to the second tier, preferably with a league title in their possession as well.

Donegal gained the upper hand against Tyrone in the league last season by a ten-point margin, although that encounter was played on home turf. It was one of two victories Donegal experienced, with the other coming against Kerry in round four.

Similarly in the Christy Ring Cup, Donegal picked up four points, with half of them coming from their comfortable victory over the Red Hand County in round three, when they left Carrickmore with 23 points to spare.

On the club scene, Setanta entered the Ulster Senior Championship and while they were beaten by St John’s at the semi-final stage, the Tir Chonaill County will be encouraged that they are competing at that level.

Burt, of course, captured the Ulster Junior Championship title with a hard fought one-point win over Lavey.

The likes of Conor Gartland and Liam Óg McKinney were in sparkling form and will be keen to carry that into the county season.

Gerard Gilmore was outstanding in their recent smash-and-grab defeat to Derry in the Conor McGurk Cup final, when a last-minute Christy McNaughton goal snatched the title from Donegal’s grasp.

Promotion will very much be the overall target for Donegal and as they showed last year, they don’t fear crossing into enemy territory and McCann’s men will be confident of collecting the two points on offer this Sunday.