Donegal starting to shape up well

NFL Division Two Final (replay): Louth v Donegal Breffni Park, Cavan Tomorrow, 3.30pmAssuming the 12,000-strong crowd that showed in Breffni Park for last Sunday's tense and dramatic draw come back for more, this has the making of another memorable day in the short but exciting history of the Division Two finals.

After a quintessential game of two halves, Louth surrendered a seven-point advantage to Donegal's fiery comeback - which left the scores level at Louth's 3-8 to Donegal's 0-17.

Considering Donegal's high-profile problems going into last Sunday - namely the dropping of panel members Kevin Cassidy and Eamon McGee for disciplinary reasons - their doggedness was somewhat surprising.

Yet, manager Brian McIver has been well justified in his tactics and, with talk already of Cassidy and McGee returning for the championship, suddenly the Donegal camp is looking a little happier again.

Defender Karl Lacey didn't start last Sunday at his own request, and he remains a concern for the replay, but Donegal still weren't short of leaders. Adrian Sweeney was sprung from the bench at half-time and helped rally his troops, ending up with 0-4 after pointing with his first touch. The likes of Christy Toye and Brian Roper also raised their game considerably, and with Donegal claiming the last four scores of the game their second chance was well earned.

Louth, however, will still feel like they have the beatings of them. Once again manager Eamonn McEneaney got the very best out of his players, with their determined and honest work-rate easing them into a 2-6 to 0-5 advantage at half-time.

It's highly unlikely Donegal will allow such a deficit to develop two weeks in succession, and suddenly the pressure is on Louth to claim the title they previously won in 2000, the first year of its existence.

However, Donegal were the original favourites to claim this title at the start of the season and, after surviving last week, that tag remains.

Deferred showing on TG4