NEXT SUNDAY, DONEGAL face their biggest game since 1992 – the last time they reached an All-Ireland SFC Final.
And while they have performed impressively this year, there remains a considerable amount of pressure on the side, as they bid to emulate the success of their counterparts twenty years ago.
Jim McGuinness, however, is confident his players can live up to the expectations of their supporters, therefore insisting they won’t be affected by the magnitude of the occasion.
“A lot of people draw the line between when we played Cork and they played Dublin and that’s like a line of form through horses and it’s not horses, it’s human beings,” he says. “You’ve got managers and you’ve got coaches who are trying to look at the opposition and look at the weaknesses and look at the strengths and strategise so every single game is different. Last year we played Dublin and it was eight points to six and then you play Cork a year later and score 16 points and people are making that comparison but the next day it could be eight points to seven.”
He continues: “I don’t believe our fellas are going to be apprehensive or nervous. Their focus has always been on task goals and when they work that way they all perform and there’s a synergy between the team.
“I think where you would get nervous would be where you removed yourself from that and you just mentally put yourself in a situation where you thought, ‘This is an All-Ireland final, I’ve never played in an All-Ireland before, I’d love an All-Ireland medal, Jesus the homecoming’s going to be great if we can win it. Can you imagine Donegal town, it’s going to be fantastic and I’ve got my cousin coming from America and that’s going to be great to see him after the game…’”
Similarly, McGuinness rejects the suggestion that Donegal may get distracted, owing to the considerable hype surrounding the game.
“It’s all been about performance,” he says. “They know themselves if they don’t perform that it’s Russian roulette. When you do perform you’ve an opportunity to be competitive so there are lines there and once you cross them it’s a very dangerous thing to do and we haven’t crossed them in the last two years so I’d be very surprised if they crossed them with this one, particularly because the stakes are so high. Now, more than ever, you retain your focus.”
However, the coach admits there is one aspect of his side’s performance that’s of particular concern – their showboating, which was in evidence towards the end of the Cork match.
They were subsequently almost punished for such arrogance, with Cork scoring a late goal, as the pressure intensified on them towards the end of the game. McGuinness was thus understandably not overly pleased with the attitude his players adopted in this instance.
“I would prefer if they were not happening but I probably felt that we deserved that goal to happen to us against Cork. I don’t believe that you can play out three minutes at the end of a game by retaining possession at that level. I believe that at some stage someone is going to get their gander up, they are going to put in a tackle and at some stage that tackle is going to result in a turnover because the referee is not going to have any sympathy on a team that is showboating and retaining possession for the sake of retaining possession and the ball is going to be turned over.
“We probably got what we deserved so it shouldn’t have happened from a coaching point of view but it is good that it happened because it gives us a very clear focus. Every day is a school day, and I have said that all along, we are by no means the finished article. The analysis was very tough on that point after the game because you have to try and be professional about it and it is not part of what we would coach.”
Moreover, McGuinness believes the supporters’ excitement on the day partially caused the players themselves to become complacent, and he explains how his side must be professional amid the jubilant environment this Sunday week.
“You can’t control the crowd and the people from Donegal are on a high at the minute and you can’t control that either. You can’t control the fact that people think we are going to win the All-Ireland and that Mayo haven’t a chance. It’s the same down in Mayo, everyone there thinks that Mayo are going to win the All-Ireland and Donegal haven’t a chance. That is the job of a supporter, almost. For us it is a different job, it is about business, it is about trying to execute our game plan.”
Should have won the All ireland last season. More than likely will this season all things being equal.
@Ray Ridge: St Thomas showed the way to beat them. Nullify Philip Mahony in the game and you beat ballygunner. Seemingly their backline is getting on in age, and appears they haven’t really blooded any new backs onto their team over the last five years. Could be found wanting come Munster championship if they beat Abbeyside next week
@v5OTKkXN: The frees won it for Thomas’s. Of which several were of the soft nature. Granted, munster will be hard won. Some very good teams in it. Na piarsaigh to name just one.
@Ray Ridge: a score is a score whether from a placed ball or from play. Frees are winning most matches these days. Whoever comes out of Limerick will have a big say this year. Those extra few weeks for the county stars to be back with clubs will make a big difference
@v5OTKkXN: Thomas took a heavy beating in Galway championship tonight. Only second round of group games however.
@Ray Ridge: maybe I’ll be proved wrong but I don’t see them do two all irelands in a row. Ballyhale will be chomping at the bit in kk and Leinster this year
@v5OTKkXN: Thomas won’t be winning back to back all Irelands Jed. That’s a cert.
@Ray Ridge: who do ya think will reign in Galway this year?
@Ray Ridge: Ah tweedle dom and dee
@v5OTKkXN: I fancied Clarenbridge the last couple of seasons, but they didn’t deliver, but maybe with Donoghue back with them, they might do it this year. Loughrea, Turloughmore and of course Thomas’s are the obvious contenders.
@Ray Ridge: could you ever see the Galway champs go into Leinster club championship like the county team
@Square: talk about dumb and dumber.
@v5OTKkXN: There’s certainly an argument for it for. Would probably need to do the same with Antrim and Derry champions.
@Ray Ridge: I’d say as long as it remains a knockout championship both Galway champs and ulster teams would prefer it to remain the same, but if it became a round robin that might entice them to think differently
@Cian O: oh yes
@Square: goone full circle deep in there with CianO young man.
@v5OTKkXN: i like my liverpool fans
@Square: what about the small ball game fans? Which of them ya like?
Split Ballygunner in two for the love of the game!
@Mick O’K: was about to say split them into four
@Mick O’K: why
@David Jackman: there been talk that the club numbers are far exceeding the opportunities for players especially in underage teams. Could be a bit like when roanmore formed in the 70’s when they broke away from Mount Sion due to same reasons
Where is ballygunner
@Niall McCarthy: ballygunner is a townsland in eastern Waterford, ruled by the O Sullivan clan. That dynasty may be crumbling like the USA these days with the sending off last week of Shane O Sullivan and this week of Darragh O Sullivan. Their nephews thought, the O Mahonys may be the next rulers of the iron throne, with their cousins the Fitzgerald lad and the Foley lad as their henchmen. Time will tell
@v5OTKkXN: all of them a family a 6th or 7th generation from Ballygunner.
@David Jackman: would ballygunner be an old Viking settlement there in Waterford David? Would the old meaning Baiile mhic Gunnar be the town of the son of Gunner?