BY RONAN SCOTT
r.scott@gaeliclife.com
Forget the worry of where Donegal's scores are coming from against Antrim, or their over-reliance on the hand-passing game, Sunday's clash might be decided by a weakness at the back.
That's according to leading sports writer Chris McNulty who works for the Donegal News and who has been keeping a close eye on John Joe Doherty's team in the run up to the Ballybofey clash.
"This might not be recognised by many people, but the biggest problem is going to be the full back line. With Neil McGee struggling with a rib injury, Paddy McDaid and Frank McGlynn coming back after six-week breaks, and Barry Dunnion struggling with an injury we are going into the game with very little cover at the back," he said.
The results from their Division one campaign while poor, suggest that their cover was reasonably good as their scores conceded stats were only marginally worse than All-Ireland champions, Tyrone. Realistically, you'd have to say Donegal's defence shouldn't have too much trouble containing an Antrim side without CJ McGourty and over-reliant on frees from Paddy Cunningham.
"On paper Donegal should win the game easily. When you look at it, Antrim are a Division three team on the rise, while Donegal are a Division two team on the slide," said McNulty.
In their last pre-championship challenge match Donegal put in a dismal performance against Sligo in Ballyshannon, losing by 2-14 to 1-13.
Bearing in mind that Sligo were promoted out of Division four along with Antrim this season, perhaps it is a little early to assume that Donegal will get it all their own way in Ballybofey.
"You can read little into that Sligo result. You had Karl Lacey coming back into the team for the first time in six months, and there were a couple of others who were just getting accustomed to coming back in. It was disappointing but nothing to get worried about," he said.
So far this season, teams in the Ulster championship who don't have a range of scorers in their number, or a reliable free taker, have tended to struggle in matches. In the league, Donegal had the second lowest scoring return of Division One.
"Colm McFadden and Michael Murphy are worth a good 10 or 12 points between them. Rory Kavanagh and Christy Toye can pop up with a few points as well and you have David Walsh and Stephen Griffin who can get scores from the bench," said McNulty.
However, the hand-passing game that Donegal tend to revert to means that if teams bottle up the Tir Chonaill side they are forced to shoot from distance - not something that Donegal are particularly adept at.
"From a fans point of view it is very frustrating to see the team get to that area of the field and, instead of shooting, they pass the ball about. When you look at Murphy and McFadden they are well able to score from there. Sometimes it is just about finding a player who can grab the game by the scruff of the neck and take a chance. Sometimes I think that player are afraid of failiing," he said.
However, and this is perhaps the biggest boost for Donegal, they do not need to worry about Kevin Cassidy being afraid to assert himself.
The Gaoth Dobhair player is expected to start in his favourite position, in the half-back line.
"When the teams take to the field I expect Cassidy to be flanked by Michael Maguire and Frank McGlynn as I don't think Barry Monaghan is going to make it into the team. Cassidy is a massive outlet for Donegal, he is a great first line of attack. From talking to him last week, it seems that there is an attitude among the players that they have not achieved as much as they should have. He's now 27 but only has one National League medal in his back pocket. They have been about for a long time and realise that they haven't reached their full potential.
"The team realise that they have probably written a lot of bad headlines for themselves and have made mistakes in the past, but now they are ready to change all that."
