Neil Loughran: It’s only the League – but Donegal have every right to dream

HINDSIGHT can make an awful eejit of you.

Let’s go back to this time last year – second half of February, three rounds of the League played. Packing up to leave Celtic Park as Saturday neared Sunday, I was convinced I had just watched the next All-Ireland champions.

Way too early for such ludicrous predictions, mercifully something deep in my subconscious ensured those thoughts stayed between me and the spin back down the darkened M2, rather than ever being committed to print.

But the guilt remains, the demon still there on my shoulder 12 months down the track. That’s why I’m outing myself; because my soul needs cleansed, brother. Hallelujah.

On the night in question, Derry despatched Monaghan with the minimum of fuss. The same Monaghan who, eight months earlier – like the Oak Leafs – contested a highly-competitive All-Ireland semi-final.

Shane McGuigan was at the very peak of his powers, finishing up with 11 points, six from play. Conor McCluskey, Paudie McGrogan and Conor Doherty, three backs – “three footballers,” purred Mickey Harte – rampaged up the field to fire goals past David McDonnell.

Diarmuid Baker, Cormac Murphy and Donncha Gilmore had all staked their claim for selection, Ryan Scullion proved an able deputy for goalkeeper Odhran Lynch, while Glen All-Ireland winners Emmett Bradley and Eunan Mulholland were among those sprung from the bench as Harte’s panel deepened.

Derry looked imperiously fit, sharp as a tack and ruthlessly efficient.

The 13-point margin at the end was flattering to Vinny Corey’s side, even if there were a number of factors affecting the Farney – most notably Rory Beggan’s flirtation with the NFL, and an extensive injury list that included Conor McCarthy, Killian Lavelle, Conor Boyle, Karl O’Connell, Darren Hughes and Conor McManus. Oh, and Stephen O’Hanlon hobbled off before half-time.

Mitigation shmitigaion, my mind was made up. This, on February 17, was the team to beat™. Well, we know how that worked out.

Six weeks later Derry were crowned League champions as the sun split the bricks at Croke Park. Life could not have been better.

Three weeks after that they were humiliated by Donegal in Ulster, before a disastrous summer concluded with both the Oak Leafs – and Harte – gone. So what’s the moral of the story?

Results in the spring can draw you in, bewitch you, but don’t let them get the better of you. Chatting to Kerry’s 2004 All-Ireland winning captain Dara Ó Cinnéide a few weeks ago, he was beating a similar drum.

The manager is under pressure any year Sam Maguire isn’t residing in the Kingdom, but that isn’t reason enough to go full tilt through Division One at the expense of blooding players who could potentially bolster the panel when the serious stuff starts.

Because only then does the wheat separate from the chaff.

“Do you want to know the biggest backhanded compliment you will hear in Kerry?” said Ó Cinnéide, “ah, he was good League player…”

Which brings me to Donegal and why, at Pairc MacCumhaill on Sunday, I watched this year’s All-Ireland champions after they swatted aside reigning kingpins Armagh.

I jest, of course. Fool me once, folks, I won’t be making that mistake again. No sir, there’s nuthin’ wun yit. But, where Derry’s 2024 campaign will remain a cautionary tale for eternity, there is an awful lot to like about the way the Tir Chonaill are shaping up so far.

Clearly, there has been a bit of work done to get them into such incredible condition, the extent of which depends on whatever WhatsApp rumour you choose to believe. The proof of the pudding, though, is in the eating.

Take two men at the opposite ends of the age spectrum. Finbarr Roarty is 19, but has the physical maturity of a 29-year-old. In the three games so far, the Glenties teenager has shown exactly why AFL clubs Down Under have already been sniffing around.

Michael Murphy, at 35, returned to the inter-county arena on Sunday after a two year sabbatical looking as lean and mean as memory permits. Paddy McBrearty – the only other survivor from the 2012 All-Ireland triumph – is like a new man, revelling in the space the new rules afford.

Last year, Derry ran themselves to a standstill, calling on largely the same 15 players week on week, culminating in the wheels flying off in spectacular fashion.

Jim McGuinness has taken plenty of learnings from Mickey Harte through the years, and he will know that – especially in a year when the landscape is already skewed by the introduction of new rules – winning the League is of minor concern.

Maintaining momentum is one thing, but not at the detriment of the bigger picture. Donegal are exactly where they want to be right now – with wins over Dublin, Kerry and Armagh bringing six points that, barring an utter catastrophe, will be enough to see them stay in Division One at the very least.

From here, they can pick and choose how the last four games play out, starting against Galway on Sunday.

“We’ll not be taking any risks with anybody moving forward now,” said McGuinness, “we have points on the board and if there’s anybody carrying a knock or that needs a rest or anything, then we’ll be open to that.”

April 6, and another Ulster Championship date with their north-west rivals in Ballybofey, is the only show in town, if it wasn’t already.

And where Derry’s lack of depth played a major part in their undoing last year, and remains an issue still, Donegal are in an envious position.

On Sunday they, fairly handily, beat Armagh without the twin towers of Jason McGee and Hugh McFadden. The elegant Michael Langan is out of the picture for a couple of weeks. Niall O’Donnell came off the bench to get his first minutes of the year against the Orchard. Odhran McFadden-Ferry will enhance their defensive options when back in harness.

While other counties are struggling to strike a balance under the new rules, Donegal’s adaptation has been more seamless than any other at this stage. And, even though their hand-passing game is so engrained, McGuinness hasn’t slept on the need to speed up their transition when opportunity knocks.

In the second half on Sunday, Ethan Rafferty – running out of options as every channel was clogged up – attempted to float a pass across to Oisin Conaty. Down to 14 following Aidan Forker’s dismissal, and leaving two men back as they chased the game, Ryan McHugh kicked the ball down the line to Niall O’Donnell in acres of space, resulting in a McBrearty score. It is just another weapon in their armoury.

Murphy looked better than ever, and will be another potential outlet for quick, direct ball depending on how, and when, McGuinness chooses to use him – and depending on how his hamstrings hold up on the harder ground.

So there you have it. Donegal look imperiously fit, sharp as a tack and ruthlessly efficient… have we been here before? It’s only the League but, in McGuinness’s second year at the helm, and a game in flux, the Tir Chonaill have every right to dream about what the rest of the year might hold.