Donegal have plenty to worry about

IF SOMEONE had come to me in January and offered Donegal an All-Ireland semifinal date with Meath, I'd have paused for a second.

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“Meath,” I'd have thought. “Is this the same Meath who just about stayed in Division 2 in 2024? The same Meath who lost by 16 points to Dublin in the Leinster Championship, which their manager, Colm O'Rourke, described as a ‘reality check’?”

So, yes, if offered this fixture at the start of 2025 I'd have taken the hand off you.

But it isn’t the start of 2025. It's July. And I’m not as confident. There have been cases in years past where an underdog has landed into a semi final and you just know before the game they feel out of place: Wexford in 2008, Tipperary in 2016 and 2021.

The introduction of the All-Ireland group stages has more or less taken that surprise element away. Let’s remember Meath have landed into the semi by beating Dublin, Galway and Kerry. They deserve to be here and for me have been the story of the Championship.

It would have been easy for that squad of players to make excuses when Joe McMahon and Martin Corey left just before the start of the Championship.