Yahoo News Sean Cavanagh column: Donegal are serious contenders for Sam Maguire, but Tyrone aren't finished yet
There isn't a team in the Championship that wants to play Donegal. Why would they? Saturday was further evidence that they are a nightmare to play against.
Suffocating you in defence, giving up very few goal chances. A goalkeeper whose kick-outs are lethal weapons with a midfield capable of dominating that sector. Runners coming from everywhere, scorers all over the team.
Donegal had nine different scorers against Tyrone on Saturday, and that's with players like Jamie Brennan, Aaron Doherty and Dáire Ó Baoill - all capable shooters - not raising a flag. The eight forwards used by Tyrone scored 0-3 from play - that shows you how effective Donegal's defence is.
Read more: Recap as Donegal power past Tyrone with impressive All-Ireland SFC round one victory
This was probably Donegal's best Championship performance since they beat Dublin in the 2014 All-Ireland semi-finals. They had a few good ones under both Rory Gallagher and Declan Bonner but I can't remember them hitting these heights.
I was in Ballybofey a year ago for their game with Tyrone and I was nearly rubbing my eyes in disbelief. Donegal were so limp and lethargic. There were Donegal football people talking about the danger of them ending in the Tailteann Cup before too long. They looked like a team that were going nowhere.
So to see what Jim McGuinness has done with them in such a short space of time is hard to believe.
There was nowhere I hated playing more than MacCumhaill Park in Ballybofey. The dressing rooms are a bit away from the ground itself so you had to cross a car park and then go down this horrible tunnel before coming on to the pitch.
There seemed to be a movable sideline in Ballybofey too. The pitch would be narrower or wider, depending on what Donegal had planned for Tyrone. There was one game where the grass hadn't been cut, maybe with the view to disrupting Niall Morgan's frees.
I remember going into the dressing-room there and the floor would be soaking. A steward would mutter something about a leak and scurry off. You'd be trying to change while worrying about dropping your stuff on the wet floor. The home dressing-room never seemed to have leaks...
I'm a Manchester United fan and the FA Cup final win did give me something to cheer about on Saturday, but my experience of Ballybofey brings me back to when United used to go to Galatasaray in Turkey and be greeted with 'Welcome to Hell' banners.
Ballybofey was hell to me. I don't think I won any kind of game in any competition there.
It's a hard place to get out of too. You'd be sitting in the bus afterwards in a traffic jam with victorious Donegal fans walking past banging the sides and roaring.
But things changed after McGuinness left as manager in 2014. Key players retired, there was huge change and Ballybofey started to lose its aura. Different teams started to win there, including Tyrone. The place held no fear for anyone.
It's safe to guess that one of the goals McGuinness had was to make MacCumhaill Park a fortress again. On Saturday, we saw the real Ballybofey. On Saturday, we saw the real Donegal.
I watched Dublin stroll to victory against Roscommon and they were on my mind a bit during the game in Ballybofey too.
Would the Dubs fancy taking on Donegal? I don't think Dessie Farrell's men fear anyone but I think they'd be very wary of the Ulster champions. So would Kerry with their defence.
McGuinness hasn't brought them to Croke Park for a Championship game yet and they look like a team that's being built for Croker. Donegal scored four goals against Derry but they haven't hit the net in their three games since then. But the way runners coming from all angles punch holes in defences could open up gaps for goals in Croke Park.
Peadar Mogan is nearly as important to this team as Michael Murphy was to McGuinness's first one. I remember talking to Tyrone players a couple of years ago at a time when they still had Murphy on board and the likes of Ryan McHugh and Patrick McBrearty were going well. But the man they pinned as the big danger was Mogan. They would have seen from their video work how effective and important he is.
He has that Jack McCaffrey quality of brilliant close control at pace and of timing the runs perfectly with bursts from defence. And he's also very strong in his defensive work. Mogan is a great bit of stuff.
Donegal are serious contenders for the All-Ireland now, and this is only McGuinness's first year working with them. Imagine how good they'll be in the next couple of years.
They don't have massive players like Murphy, Colm McFadden, Neil McGee and Karl Lacey from his first Donegal team. But, to me, I think this team is shaping up to be a stronger unit. They may well end up being better than the side that won the 2012 All-Ireland.
As for Tyrone, they have Clare at home next and then two weeks to get ready for Cork. That will help injured players get back fully fit and I think the schedule helps Brian Dooher and Fergal Logan's men. I still think Tyrone can do a bit of damage in this Championship if they pick up some momentum in the next couple of games.
The other big talking point of the weekend was the fact that only 12,000 turned up in Croke Park. You could argue that Leinster and Manchester United on TV hurt the attendance but it's still dismal.
I think it's very obvious why so few paid to watch Dublin's predictable stroll to victory against Roscommon. People knew what to expect. A boring game with a predictable result. Who wants to pay to be bored?
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