BY MATTHEW WILSON

DONEGAL senior hurler Conor O’Grady is hoping that they can get their Christy Ring campaign off to a positive start this Sunday when they meet Wicklow in Letterkenny.

Donegal were last in action 12 days ago when they also faced Wicklow in the National Hurling League Division Two Final in Aughrim.

It was a heartbreaking occasion for Mickey McCann’s outfit, with a pair of stoppage time goals from Seanie Germaine snatching the silverware from Donegal’s hands.

Jonathan O’Neill’s outfit ran out narrow one-point winners in their own backyard which O’Grady described as ‘tough to take’ given the circumstances.

“It was a tough one to take. Going into added time we were five points up, thinking we had the job done. We don’t have a great record down in Aughrim and it was looking well up until those two goals obviously.

“At least now we have Wicklow this Sunday so it’s a perfect opportunity to get back at it because it was a tough one to take for the last two weeks.”

Despite defeat in the competition’s showpiece, it’s been a successful league campaign for Donegal, securing promotion back to Division Two having suffered the drop last term.

The taste of Division Two hurling last season would have whetted the appetite of the players and they’d have been eager to regain their position at that level as soon as possible.

It was a brilliant response from Mickey McCann’s men to achieve it at the first time of asking and the St Eunan’s clubman expressed that it was the aim of the group from the offset.

“The main goal was to get back to where we were last year. If you don’t go back up in the year that you go down then it gets even more difficult because it’s two more good teams coming down from the division above.

“Every year that you stay in it the harder it gets so the main aim was to get out of Division Three. The likes of Carlow are coming down to Division Two so you’re getting to bigger and better places testing yourself against those sorts of teams.”

As mentioned by O’Grady, Donegal will line up in the second tier of the National Hurling League next term alongside Carlow as well as Down, Westmeath, Meath, London and Wicklow.

Tests against these outfits will serve them well and some of the youthful players amongst the group will never have played at this level before so the experience will be significant for them, with the Letterkenny man stating that it’s where you want to be as a player.

“It’s where you want to be and hopefully when we go up next year we are able to hold our position. We want to keep getting better and keep rising.

“That’s what we seem to have been doing over the last few years. Even when we were up there last year, we had a few decent results and we held our own. It is somewhere where we think we should be.”

With the league campaign now concluded, Donegal’s attention turns swiftly towards the start of Christy Ring this Sunday afternoon.

Mickey McCann’s charges face some stern tests in the Christy Ring, with matches Kerry, Derry, Meath and Roscommon coming on the horizon.

But first up for them is a third meeting of the season with Wicklow at O’Donnell Park in Letterkenny in the opening round.

With the Gardens County outfit winning both of the sides previous encounters this year, Donegal will be eager to get one back on them and get off to a winning start which O’Grady stated is required.

“It’s good to get Wicklow now, especially after the result two weeks ago. In the Christy Ring the teams are all so close. You really need to hit the ground running or you could be looking at getting relegated very easily. We have Kerry the following week and they had a great league campaign, getting promoted from Division Two, so we really have to hit the ground running in this first game.”

A positive result on Sunday would set Donegal up well for a tricky test the following weekend when they make the long trip down to Tralee to face Kerry.

Home advantage could provide McCann’s outfit with an advantage when they meet Wicklow on Sunday afternoon and with three out of their five outings taking place at the Letterkenny venue, O’Grady discussed that it’s crucial that they pick up as many points as they can on home soil.

“It’s a big game for us, the fixtures have been good to us. We have Kerry away and then Derry away but as far as away matches go, Derry is only over the road.

“We have a few fixtures in O’Donnell Park and it’s important that we do our best to get a result in them.”