| Venue: St Tiernach’s Park, Clones Date: Sunday, 8 May Throw-in: 16:00 BST |
| Coverage: Watch on BBC Two NI; live text commentary, match report and highlights on the BBC Sport NI website |
Declan Bonner insists Donegal’s main motivation in Sunday’s provincial football semi-final against Cavan will be “performance” rather than avenging their shock 2020 Ulster Final defeat.
Donegal went into the 2020 decider as overwhelming favourites but were stunned by a ravenous Breffni side.
The effects seemed to linger but Donegal looked back to their best in the win over Armagh two weeks ago.
“2020 will have no bearing on it,” said Bonner ahead of Sunday’s Clones clash.
“We’ve got to go out and perform at the weekend and if we do that, we’re in with a big chance.
“Preparations went well going into the Armagh game. There was a certain edge coming into it after the league campaign was over and you could sense this was championship.
“It’s been like that the last couple of weeks also. The guys have trained really, really well and we’re really looking forward to the task ahead.”
‘We’ll have no excuses’
Bonner added that Donegal will have “no excuses” if they are stunned by the Breffnimen for the second time in 18 months.
“We have a full squad available bar Oisin Gallen and we’ll be going out on Sunday trying to get that performance level to the level required to win a championship match. Hopefully that will get us over the line on Sunday afternoon.”
After’s Cavan epic display in Armagh on that November day when Thomas Galligan and Ciaran Brady’s displays encapsulated the Breffni endeavour, Bonner has the height of respect for Mickey Graham’s side and says he was impressed with their emphatic opening victory over an Antrim side who had been fancied by some pundits to win at Corrigan Park.
“Cavan are a good side. They are well organised and Mickey’s done a good job there. They have a number of really, really good players.
“They are an experienced side and lot of those guys have been around for a good number of years and they were very impressive against Antrim last time out.”
While forward Gallen is still ruled out, defenders Odhran McFadden-Ferry and Neil McGee are available again after being suspended for the win over the Orchard men but it will be a surprise if Bonner makes any alterations to the backline that performed so well two weeks ago.
After his outstanding display against Armagh, Jason McGee, along with midfield partner Hugh McFadden, missed Donegal’s first training session following the Ballybofey game because of a knock but Bonner insists both will be available for Sunday’s game.
‘Back at Clones…..there’s nothing better’
With the Athletic Grounds in Armagh not proving a happy experience for Donegal 18 months ago, Bonner is making no attempt to hide his happiness that Sunday’s game is taking place at St Tiernach’s Park, a venue he describes as the “spiritual home of Ulster football”.
“You can feel it. You can sense it. You’ll always sense the edge going into a championship week but going back into Clones…..there’s nothing better.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to have played there on numerous occasions in Ulster Finals and semi-finals and then as manager.
“Going up that hill heading into St Tiernach’s Park. Cavan will bring good support and we’re hoping Donegal will bring big numbers and get behind the team.”
Donegal’s win over Armagh should have injected a huge amount of confidence into a squad that, truth be told, had been treading water since that nightmare November day against Cavan, and Bonner has continued to talk up a Ballybofey performance that was spearheaded by Ryan McHugh’s all-action display.
“The performance against Armagh in the first half was very good and we probably should have been more up at half-time. We dominated a lot of possession.
“In the second half Armagh came at us but we weather that storm and finished the game out fairly well.
“We got to built on that and improve from that. That’s what we’re looking to do on Sunday.”
The Armagh game was over as a contest some time before the final whistle but Bonner says he is expecting the provincial semi-final to “go down the final straight”.
“We’re expecting a really tough championship battle against Cavan. They always have been and I don’t think Sunday will be any different.
“The guys coming off the bench will have a huge role to play. We’re happy with where we are and the group that we are and that the guys who are on the bench are ready to come on and will make a difference.”
