Jim McGuinness
Former Donegal manager Jim McGuinness has said Donegal’s Michael Murphy will get stronger as he gets fitter through the season.
Writing in his Irish Times column, the Glenties man said it was their “innate quality’ which saw them overcome Fermanagh.
But he singled out a number of players including Murphy, Frank McGlynn and Odhrán MacNiallais as being the stand-out players.
McGuinness wrote “The Donegal-Fermanagh game on Sunday was interesting in that it exaggerated the division between teams accustomed to operating within the top tier and those beyond it.
“With the exception of Neil McGee’s sending off, the match ran along expected lines: a tight opening period gradually opening into a relatively comfortable win for Donegal. Fermanagh exhibited the confidence acquired last summer in the opening half in Ballybofey but they lacked the quality to keep pace with Donegal over 70 minutes. When you think of Donegal, it was innate quality that saw them through.
“First on my list in that respect would be Frank McGlynn for his overall game intelligence, his defensive positioning and his ability to initiate attacks – and to take a score. The other big plus was the emergence of the two debut players of immense potential, Mark Anthony McGinley and Eoin McHugh.
“Odhrán MacNiallais was the outstanding player on the field and seems to be growing in stature all the time. He is a classical Donegal midfield player; very stylish and a ball player who sees things early and who possesses a devastating finishing touch.
“Patrick McBrearty looked strong and dangerous and even though Fermanagh operated a sweeper, Donegal were able to play around it fairly comfortably. Funny, a lot of the ball Patrick saw was delivered by Michael Murphy. And this is the ongoing debate about Donegal. There is a slogan in Donegal: There’s only one Michael Murphy. It’s true and more is the pity.
“I heard through the grapevine that Michael worked extremely hard to be fit and ready for this game and having come through it, he will be in a strong position as he prepares to play Monaghan.
“He wasn’t all-dominating against Fermanagh but his delivery was excellent and when his team were struggling in the middle, he came out and essentially recovered that area to give Donegal the platform to go ahead and win. Donegal’s experience was paramount here.
“The sending off might have upset the team but as it turned out Fermanagh were completely outplayed in the second half, psychologically and in terms of technical ability. You couldn’t have asked much more from 14 men in the second half.”
