DONEGAL AND GALWAY are perhaps the same only different.
Both harboured aspirations of landing provincial crowns before being handed their you know what on a plate in respective nine-point losses against Tyrone and Roscommon.
For Donegal, the manner of that 1-21 to 1-12 defeat by Tyrone was difficult to hide, although they’ve chosen to hide from it in plain sight with constant references to the meltdown in Monaghan.
When manager Rory Gallagher, who had one year to run on his initial three-year agreement from 2014, saw his term sanctioned last September to a further three with a possible fourth, it was with something in mind.
Everything, we hear, happens for a reason but there’s also a reason for everything that happens.
Gallagher inherited an ultimately successful if aging panel in the wake of Jim McGuinness’s departure and by and large, persevered by not teaching his older dogs new tricks, coming close to Ulster titles in both 2015 and last year.
Year three, in a way, is a fledgling one for Donegal, with a host of youngsters and only five players who started the 2012 All-Ireland final in from the off in the 1-15 to 1-14 Round 3A qualifier win over Meath earlier this month.
That followed a jittery 0-12 to 0-7 sidestepping of Longford. Next up is Galway.
“There’s natural progression in who we’ve played,” Gallagher said. “From Longford to Meath and now onto Galway, who won Division 2, won Connacht last year and beat Mayo this year and last. In the Connacht final they would’ve been too happy with their own performance, no more than ourselves against Tyrone.
“In Donegal when you lose like we did against Tyrone then the outside world questions you. We know we went out to give a big performance but it didn’t materialise.
“Roscommon were probably building towards that one game against Galway all year -that’s no disrespect to Leitrim in the Connacht semi-final. Galway maybe found it difficult to get up to the levels they were at for Mayo. That can happen.”
Like Galway, Donegal have enjoyed success at minor and U-21 level. In the macro, for Donegal to compete in the latter stages, there will need to be an incremental development over time; just like how they are evolving in the micro, step-by-step in the qualifiers – their first real run in the back door since 2009.
“Before the championship, I said that if we can get a good number of championship games under our belt – six or seven or more – then it would stand to these lads,” Gallagher added.
“It’ll help their career. If you only play a couple games you don’t really get into the nuts and the bolts of it, but if we can win on Saturday then we’re into the business end of the season at Croke Park. That would be a big step.”
“The minute you go out of the provincial championship you’re given a second chance and having experienced going into the qualifiers in the last 12, after provincial final defeats, I’d much prefer the way we are going in now. We’ve had time to get over Tyrone and work on a few things so now we’re relishing Galway.”
The aftermath of Donegal versus Galway will provide contemporary coordinates, although there’s talent continuing to grow from underneath the surface.
Tomorrow might be about more than tomorrow, in the broader sense, but right now Donegal and Galway are living for the moment – and their championship lives.
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