McShea's Say: Playing a championship game in Croke Park is like a dream

After a very impressive championship campaign to date, Donegal will play their All-Ireland quarter-final in Croke Park in two weeks.

Beating Clare by 2-23 to 0-5 in Castlebar last Saturday was quite simply a massacre. There is no other word to describe a game that was over after 15 minutes. Donegal were a different class to this Clare outfit.

The great triumph of the GAA is that it means so much to so many people. It inspires a passion that is not always evident in many areas of life. Few if any outlets offer a sense of identity more than the pulling on of a county jersey. The exceptional upturn in the fortunes of our Donegal team has caught the imagination of our followers to an amazing degree.

The great travelling support that made their way to Cork, and the big numbers wearing the Donegal jersey in Castlebar for the Clare game is a real boost to the team, and as we look forward to Croke Park in two weeks, I hope that those wonderful fans who made it to both Cork and Mayo will be assured of tickets for the game in Dublin.

The first lesson of sport is that you will most likely lose far more than you will win (provided you are not a Dublin footballer or Limerick hurler). In the ebb and flow of championship football, most counties suffer bitter disappointment but at times also enjoy memorable success. Every county carries its own stories with its tradition and history, and for me, no contest is as intense as an Ulster championship match.

Ulster championship football has a spice unique to the province, it gives rivalries a depth and a texture not found in the other three provinces. This Donegal side answered every question put to them in beating Derry, Tyrone, and Armagh to win their Ulster title, and it is a flawed campaign when the present format saw Donegal beat Tyrone for a second time in a matter of weeks on their way to getting to the championship quarter-final.

But the current championship format is for another day and for now, the fact that Donegal is only three games away from the promised land is a very special place to be. It will be next Monday morning before our next opponents are clear and that depends on the outcome of the games this weekend, when Tyrone plays Roscommon, Galway hosts Monaghan, Louth plays Cork, and Mayo hosts Derry which seems to be the most attractive of those fixtures.

Galway should have too much for Monaghan in my view. Home advantage may just see Tyrone prevail against Roscommon, but it is not a game to put money on. Louth are a much-improved outfit and Cork do not travel well but the Leesiders may just shade this match. While Mayo impressed against Dublin last Sunday they might put an end to Derry’s championship ambitions.

Going to play in Croke Park will be a new experience for several of this Donegal panel, but it will be an experience to cherish for the younger members of the squad. A few years ago, I remember some Donegal officials quite vociferous in their request to take Dublin out of Croke Park. I simply could not understand such thinking. Every footballer or hurler loves the opportunity to play on this hallowed sod and I am sure that Ciarán Moore, Mark Curran, Caolan McGonagle, or Oisin Gallen, who all excelled against Clare can’t wait to play in Croke Park.

Even Ryan McHugh and Paddy McBrearty must also be looking forward to returning to GAA Headquarters. When the team arrives in Dublin, the mood in the Donegal dressing room will be tense, but mixed with confidence. The team has had a marvelous season so far and will be buzzing.

The dressing rooms below the stand are so insulated that the players could be forgiven for thinking that there was no one out in the stadium. And the dressing rooms and the tunnel are so dark, that the players don’t know what is waiting for them, but then comes the roar, the arena, the cauldron.

The younger players that will be playing in Croke Park for the first time - what they must have been dreaming of for so long - have no mental or physical conception of what they will be about to experience. No sports psychologist can have them fully prepared for what they are about to go through as they will be carrying on their lean shoulders a county without All-Ireland senior success since 2012.

But there is a lot of Croke Park experience in the Donegal management team and their abiding philosophy that hard work and unremitting dedication make every goal attainable has been delivered this year. It's going to be a real treat to see Donegal back in Croke Park.