DONEGAL KEVIN CASSIDY: Keith Dugganon how the dynamic wing-back now finds himself one of the team's senior men and realising they better get their act together

IN 2002, Kevin Cassidy seemed to arrive on the inter-county scene fully formed, skipping the obligatory apprenticeship years and enjoying a stunning debut season as a solid and bullet-headed left-half back who finished the year as the All Star choice in that position.

Seven years on, he is in the situation of many athletes, marvelling at how the subsequent seasons have simply slid away without ever quite meeting the expectations he set for himself.

“When I won the All Star that year, I suppose I thought, well, this is going to be great the whole time,” he agrees.

“But it doesn’t take long to realise that you don’t have too many years left – I am 27 now. It is a lot of effort to put in.

“The last two years especially, you realise that it is a lot of sacrifice to put in because the moment you stop making the sacrifice and putting in the extra effort and the extra training is when you will fall behind in training and that is when you see the difference.

“We have a National League medal and that is all we have, so it is really about time that this team won something.”

For better of for worse, Cassidy has probably become identified as the leader of this current generation of Donegal players. There are other senior men on the panel – the quiet influence of Barry Monaghan should never be understated – but Cassidy’s ebullient style of play and his versatility have made him indispensable to the ongoing cause of the team.

He has had good years since and stormy moments too, most notably when he absented himself from the squad for the 2006 championship following a public falling-out with then manager Brian McIver.

But there is an indelible brightness to Cassidy’s outlook on life that makes it possible for him to cheerfully acknowledge the mistakes of the past while hoping there is still time for his generation of players to deliver on their potential.

Recently, the team returned to the newly developed MacCumhaill Park and as he stood in the sunshine, Cassidy laughed aloud when asked if the long trail of gossip and feuding that seemed to accompany Donegal football had come to an end.

“I hope so. All the stories that are heard, well, I suppose over the past couple of years we have created a few unwanted headlines ourselves. But the team has grown up.

“We are in our late 20s now and it is nearly time that we knuckled down because to be honest, you think you have loads of years ahead of you, but it gets harder every year and there are young lads coming in and they are quicker and faster so I think the boys realise that.

“And we are a mature team now so, hopefully, the headlines will be positive this year.”

The appointment of John Joe Doherty, one of the blue-chip players from Brian McEniff’s famous All-Ireland-winning side, came about after a messy conclusion to Brian McIver’s involvement with the team.

Cassidy had resolved his differences with McIver and agrees the squad were unhappy with the manner in which the Derry man had to leave the post.

Doherty’s first league has been intriguing – the Glen man fearlessly auditioned new players and did not seem greatly concerned when Donegal, the league champions in 2007, fell from the first tier this time around.

He dealt with several mid-season misdemeanours quietly and decisively and his message has always been that, for all the emphasis placed on managers, it is up to the players to want to achieve things themselves.

It is a book from which Cassidy is happy to quote.

Donegal’s chief ambition of an Ulster title has remained elusive, but the team has been involved in several high-profile matches without forcing their way through.

“We spoke among the older boys and, you know, we were in an All-Ireland semi-final and I don’t think we every fully realised where we were, a lot of us. We played Armagh that day and put up a good enough show. But we left that day thinking, ah well, just another game.

“The same with the Dublin match the year before – if we had got past that game, you just never know what can happen.

“But we spoke as individuals about how silly we had been in the past and about the chances that we have thrown away.

“We threw away chances and if we get them now, we won’t be throwing them away. We all came in the same time and we all realise that in another three years or so, it will be a whole new group of players. So it is our time now to try and win.”

Local fans will be guardedly optimistic that Donegal can take advantage of their home venue and ability and secure a victory against Antrim, leading to a semi-final against Cavan.

But Donegal’s championship form has been notoriously unpredictable – last year, they exited after narrow losses to Derry and, in the qualifiers, against Monaghan.

They will be expected to put on a performance on Sunday but experience has thought Cassidy to be cautious in his predictions.

“We have had tight games with Antrim. In Ulster, we stopped putting any emphasis on the draw because you just don’t know – we went to Fermanagh in the first round in 2003 and they knocked us out of the championship.

“You don’t know what to expect – that is what makes it a great competition.

“So, hopefully, we can get through this and take it from there.”