Posted online: Jun 25th, 2009

Donegal GAA minor boss Martin Regan is appealing for a large Tir Chonaill turnout this Saturday evening in Clones, when his young guns do battle with Down in the Ulster semi-final.

Following Donegal’s hard fought victory over Antrim in Ballybofey, when a torrential second half downpour saw tactics take a backseat; Regan knows that his side will have to lift their game considerably if they are to dispose of the Mourne men.

Free from the burden of examinations, the Naomh Conaill club man feels that if his players can express themselves in the way he knows they are capable of, they won’t be far away.

“It was our ambition at the very start of the year to get to Clones,” Regan told the Donegal Post.

“We’re delighted to be there and that kind of experience will be a huge benefit to these players. Football is at a fairly low ebb at the moment in Donegal so we hope for a large turnout as that could make all the difference.”

While Regan has had to make do with a limited amount of access to his squad for the majority of the season so far; he knows that the completion of examinations will see a huge mental burden lifted from his players.

“We really only got them back on Thursday evening as they still had a number of exams after the Antrim game, but it’s obviously a relief for them to be able to go out and fully enjoy their football.”

Regan admits that Donegal’s progression to the semi-final has come at a price however; as a number of his squad are carrying knocks that may see them miss out. Doubts remain over the fitness of Ciaran Green and Enda Faulkner.

The performance of Patrick McBrearty following his second half introduction was very encouraging for Donegal football, but Regan warned against expecting too much from the talented Kilcar youngster.

“It certainly was encouraging but we have to be very careful as he’s only fifteen years old. We can’t expect Patrick to propel us to an Ulster final as that just wouldn’t be fair.

We’ll need big performances all over the park. We have a number of lads playing senior football for their clubs so they won’t be intimidated by anything they see on Saturday- Those are the boys that we need to see us through.” (Throw-in 5.15pm)