By Michael McMullan NOT everyone captains an inter-county senior team in their early 20s. Not every 23-year-old lifts Sam. Not everyone makes an inter-county return at 35. Not everyone is Michael Murphy. The Glenwsilly man came on at half-time to help engineer Donegal’s victory over Derry on Sunday. He kicked a point, won vital balls […]
By Michael McMullan HOW much do Donegal want a league final spot? That’s the question this week as they welcome Derry to Ballyshannon on Sunday. Jim McGuinness spoke after the Armagh win of their six-point tally and not risking anyone. His selection for Galway last weekend said more. Eoghan Bán Gallagher, Ciarán Thompson and Ryan […]
By Michael McMullan WITH Donegal on six points from three games, they head to Galway this weekend without needing to keep one eye on their league status. The Ulster champions open their title defence in Ballybofey against Derry in early April and manager Jim McGuinness is content with where his side is. Hugh McFadden sat […]
From his days watching football, Michael McMullan selects a team of players that would excel under the new rules with a limit of one player per county and with every Ulster team represented… 1 Michael Byrne (Antrim) I HAVE watched Antrim a few times and Byrne has impressed. An excellent shot stopper, safe with the […]
By Michael McMullan ULSTER champions Donegal kick their new season into gear on Sunday with a trip to Kerry. It’s the second season of the second stint for manager Jim McGuinness and there are solid foundations to build on. More than solid. They will look with regret at how close they came to making last […]
By Ryan Ferry DONEGAL senior football manager Jim McGuinness says strength-in-depth will be needed this year as county teams get to grips with a new faster and more demanding game of gaelic football. With three players on each side having to stay at either side of the field, there is going to be a heavy […]
I WAS in Donegal last week and three different people told me – in absolute confidence (“Don’t mention my name Joe”) – that in their in house training games, Michael Murphy has been playing in goals. According to them, Jimmy has discovered a loophole in the no pass to the keeper rule, by not putting […]
Cometh the man, cometh the hour For long stretches of Glen’s All-Ireland final against St Brigid’s back in January, it looked like we were on course for an upset. It just wasn’t happening for the Watty Graham’s, but we all know what happened next: Conor Glass scored a fantastic goal and they ended up with […]
By Michael McMullan JIM McGuinness has revealed five players he will have as part of his plans for 2025. The high-profile addition has been the return from retirement of All-Ireland winning captain Michael Murphy. In an interview on Monday’s DL Debate, on Highland Radio, McGuiness outlined a further four players he can call on for […]
IT is a terrible irony that Jimmy McGuinness’s system won Michael Murphy an All-Ireland medal yet ruined his best years. As a young footballer Michael was so good it was cartoonish. Here was a real life Hotshot Hamish, fetching impossible high balls and driving them to the net like Tony Yeboah, the ‘keeper standing there wondering […]
