NEWS ROUND-UP:DONEGAL ARE entering a seminal few days in their football season, and particularly their young forward Michael Murphy. This evening in Enniskillen, Murphy will lead the Donegal attack in the Ulster under-21 football final against Cavan – a quite novel pairing for this championship in that it's now 14 years since either team won the title.
Cavan – who last won it in 1996 – will be marginal underdogs against Donegal, who last won it in 1995, if only because of Murphy’s sizeable presence in the Donegal attack. The current Young Footballer of the Year was pivotal in helping Donegal get past Derry in the semi-final, and is proving a handful for opposing defences no matter what the level of competition.
Cavan beat Monaghan and Down to get this far, and can’t be discounted – but they’ll need to limit Murphy’s scoring threat if they are to bridge that 14-year gap and book their place in the AllIreland semi-final against Tipp on April 17th (Roscommon play Dublin in the other under-21 semi-final).
Win or lose this evening, Murphy is then expected to lead the charge in Donegal’s promotion showdown against Armagh in Letterkenny on Sunday. Down are already assured of one promotional spot from Division Two, and whoever wins between Donegal and Armagh – who are currently joint second with eight points apiece – are sure to join them in the Division Two final, and with that top flight status in 2011. That, in fact, is the only game of consequence in Division Two, as Tipperary and Westmeath are both relegated no matter what.
Likewise, the Division One final is already one-half decided in that Cork are through, irrespective of the result of their last game against Mayo in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday. However, Mayo still have it all to play for in that a win or a draw would see them through, provided Dublin lose to Tyrone. But if Mayo lose, and Dublin beat Tyrone, the Leinster champions would progress, given they beat Mayo in the earlier rounds.
Given all the pressure is off Cork, at least for now, manager Conor Counihan will be using Sunday’s Mayo clash as the chance to ease back into action the likes of Alan Quirke, Anthony Lynch and Graham Canty, all of whom have missed the earlier rounds of the league. Canty has been troubled by a long-term hamstring injury, while Quirke and Lynch have had groin injuries, but they have been training this week and may see some game time on Sunday.
In the lower divisions, meanwhile, the race for promotion from Division Four also comes down to Sunday’s last game, where the winners of Clare against Waterford in Dungarvan – who are currently first and second on the table – will definitely make the jump.
The losers could still make it, provided Limerick fail to beat Leitrim at the Gaelic Grounds, but given that’s unlikely, Clare and Waterford will essentially be playing for the right to move off the bottom of the pile.
