Jim McGuinness returns to get one over on his old rival Mickey Harte as Donegal rip up the script in the Ulster Championship.
On Saturday evening, as Celtic Park bathed in sunshine and became awash with red and white and green and gold in the minutes before throw-in, it was difficult not to feel like we were about to be truly captivated by the Ulster Championship for the first time this year.
He readily admitted to having lost sleep in the past before big championship meetings with Harte's Tyrone, but while speaking to reporters after Donegal's win, McGuinness revealed that he had slept fine in the nights leading up to Saturday's match. But with a Division Two title in the bag, they have steadied the ship under McGuinness, and on Saturday they looked an entirely different animal to the disillusioned bunch who were ushered out of Ulster by Down last year.
"I hope that it helps a lot, I hope it will add a lot to the belief, but the problem is we have an eight-day turnaround," McGuinness told a large group of reporters as the temperature plummeted outside the Celtic Park changing rooms. McGuinness, as he has done so often in the past, edged the tactical battle. His players utilised Shaun Patton's kick-outs to build their attacks to great effect before the goalkeeper was forced off in the second half with an injury.
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