Sean MacCumhaill Park: How Ballybofey venue has become a fortress for Donegal

WHEN JIM MCGUINNESS took over as the Donegal manager, he set about addressing the county’s home form as one of his first priorities.

Derry, Antrim and Down had left Ballybofey with Championship victories in the previous three years and Sean MacCumhaill’s old magic had waned.

That 1-15 to 2-10 loss against Down, after extra time, in May 2010, was Donegal’s last defeat in Ballybofey in either League or Championship football.

Since then, Donegal are unbeaten in 13 League and Championship games at MacCumhaill Park.

A 2013 Dr McKenna Cup defeat to Monaghan did blot the copybook, but the personnel included on that afternoon – with Donegal fielding an under-21 team – mean it can be scratched from the record.

Last May, Tyrone came to town hoping to end the sequence, but Donegal rolled their sleeves up for a 1-13 to 1-10 win.

This Sunday afternoon, Mayo are the opponents for the latest installment of a rivalry that has been growing in recent times.

Donegal, with two wins from their two League games against Down and Cork, sit atop Division 1 going into the game with Mayo losing their opening two against Cork and Dublin.

With a possible home game in the Ulster Championship this June, Rory Gallagher, the Donegal manager is keen for his team to keep up their fine form by the Finn.

“There is no point hiding the fact that myself and the players prefer playing games in Ballybofey,” Gallagher says.

“We are one of the very few counties who play home games at three different venues, but we do prefer Ballybofey. It’s the pitch, the surroundings, everything really – and it’s where the big Championship games are played.

“A great starting point for any team is home form. You always get a bigger crowd following you for home games so it’s nice to keep up the bargain at our end by producing something they can be proud of.

“Take this weekend, it’s the next best thing to a Championship game we’ll get in the League. It will be a severe test because Mayo are one of the top sides and it’s great to get a big game here considering we could be at home in the Championship this summer.

“That familiarity is good. It means the boys are familiar with travel, eating times, the surroundings. You look at Monaghan with an exceptional record in Clones, Dublin in Croke Park and take Cork who haven’t won in Killarney in years – these things do matter.”

In the first League game in the Jim McGuinness era, a late Neil McGee goal secured a draw against Sligo that appeared unlikely for long periods. Just where that narrative would’ve gone otherwise is anyone’s guess, but it certainly was an important moment in the tale.

There were others, too, like the win over Armagh in 2012 that was a winner-takes-all relegation battle and, of course, the Championship wins over Antrim, Derry and Tyrone twice have added muscle to Ballybofey’s biceps.

Gallagher has good memories of Ballybofey from his own playing days. It was here where he lobbed Tony Blake in June 2000 as Fermanagh scored a 1-12 to 0-13 win that was their first Championship win over Donegal since 1936.

In those days, teams feared coming to Ballybofey and the growing record suggests that those days are here again.

“We don’t want to tempt fate, but the evidence is there,” Gallagher says. “The onus is on us every day now to keep that going.”

DONEGAL’S LEAGUE & CHAMPIONSHIP RECORD

IN BALLYBOFEY SINCE 2011