Hardly a fair reward for being one of the best teams in the championship so far.
Donegal won four games on their way to their first Ulster title in four years. Four tough, uncompromising games. First of all, Declan Bonner’s men, emboldened by their fast, free-flowing attacking system, dispatched of Cavan easily after pulling the short straw in having to play a preliminary round.
Derry and Down soon fell victim to their sweeping attacks and Fermanagh never laid a glove on them in the decider. Donegal’s scored more than 22 points in each one of these games.
And with their provincial triumph, they became the third team in the country to book their place in the Super 8s. Joining respective provincial champions Galway and Kerry, Dublin soon followed the men from the hills to complete the first half of the Super 8s line-up.
The Super 8s
Donegal will join Dublin in group two of the Super 8s. The teams who emerge from Round 4 of the qualifiers will complete the group.
The two top teams in the group after three games each will progress to the semi-finals. It already seems as if Dublin have an advantage over Donegal in getting to these semi-finals, however.
When the GAA made the decision that all teams would have one game in Croke Park, they never took into account that this game would in fact be a home game for Dublin.
All teams are supposed to have one home game, one away game and one game in Croke Park in the Super 8s.
To Dublin, that’s two home games and one trip down the country. Donegal will play Dublin in Croke Park to kick off group two of the Super 8s. A loss here and they’ll be chasing their tails already.
That’s an immediate disadvantage for Declan Bonner’s men, and you’d have to question why a neutral venue isn’t put in place for this meeting.
Here’s how the first round of fixtures will look in Group Two.
