Édaein O'Connell: Friendships and even love are at risk if Kerry v Donegal All-Ireland final doesn't go my way
One of my greatest friends is from Donegal. He's full of heart and fun and laughter. He enjoys a good pint of Guinness, a getaway to a European city and a night out that turns into two days. He thinks Jim McGuinness is some sort of Messiah, sent to free Donegal from the shackles of life and to propel the county into the stratosphere of immortality and All Stars. Every night, he dreams of Jimmy winning matches and Michael Murphy being forever 35.
Now, not only has he found himself a friend from Kerry, but he's also acquired a romantic interest from the Kingdom too. Tensions couldn't be more fraught. The timing couldn't be more inopportune. True love's path has never been more askew.
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Irish Independent
a few seconds ago
- Irish Independent
‘Our supporters were waiting for us to catch fire and it didn't happen' – Jim McGuinness on final loss
Donegal manager Jim McGuinness said he was disappointed for the team's followers after his side's All-Ireland final to Kerry, saying they were waiting in vain for his side to catch fire.
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Jim McGuinness: ‘We've got to take it on the chin. We've also got to tip our hat to Kerry'
Sometimes, you just have to stand back and let the hurt burn you. Donegal were outplayed, outfought and outworked by Kerry and there wasn't a whole lot they could do about it. Afterwards, Jim McGuinness said he didn't feel any flatness in his players, as had been the case before the 2014 final. They came to win the All-Ireland. Kerry just came better. 'We felt good going into the game. We were relaxed all weekend. We didn't see it in the dressingroom either. Just Kerry came hard, they came hard early. They set the terms of the game. Then you're trying to manage that and you're trying to claw your way back in. 'We tried to respond to that but at the end of the day, they were still keeping the scoreboard ticking over. Very quickly, you're in a fight. Whereas we wanted to be in a position where we were going to control the game, then they were going to control the game. We were going to pick them off, they were going to pick us off. 'We knew that was going to be the case anyway with the inside forwards that they have on the pitch. Very quickly, they set the terms of the game. We were pushing a boulder up a hill at certain points for large parts of it.' READ MORE McGuinness was keen to point to Kerry's class on the day. His team made mistakes and weren't able to live with the relentlessness that Kerry brought. 'We have to reflect today. We've got to take it on the chin. We've also got to tip our hat to Kerry. Kerry were brilliant today. They played really, really well for long periods of that game. Even though we did get into situations where we felt we might have got a bit of traction, that never really materialised. 'Very, very disappointed for the people of Donegal that it didn't work out. They were here in their droves today and didn't get the performance either, which is disappointing. But as I said earlier, we have to take that on the chin. 'I said to the players in the dressingroom, it's not a game you should think about for a long time. We didn't deserve to win the game. That's the reality of it. We didn't do enough to win the game. You have to let it slide. Sometimes you just have to let performances slide. And this is one of them.' Donegal's great strength all year had been their variety, their running from deep, the fact that they didn't rely on one player to do all the scoring. But Kerry kept them penned in and closed off all the usual lines of running. Donegal ran out of ideas pretty quickly. 'Was it six or seven scorers we had? I think we've had 12 in the last two games, so definitely, yes. There's things on that. Why did we not get the same traction in terms of threats all over the pitch and different people popping up at different times? That's all things that probably come into the mix.'
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Kerry meet the moment to blow Donegal away for one of the sweetest All-Irelands they've ever won
There have been sweeter All-Irelands for Kerry but not that many. And none that took as much winning. Just six weeks ago, they were down and destitute against Meath, well-beaten on the pitch and running a field hospital off it. Now they're All-Ireland champions again and everyone else is drowning in that familiar mix of envy and bafflement at the speed with which they can regenerate. They sail off into the distance as champions, relaxed and content, everything in its right place. Donegal were dealt with as readily and summarily as Tyrone and Armagh before them. Throw the yawn against Cavan into the mix and it's the most comfortable Ulster Championship ever won. The final score was 1-26 to 0-19, making it the first 10-point win in an All-Ireland final since 2007. There have been six double-digits victories in the past 50 years of deciders – five of them have been Kerry's. Somewhere in their race memory is the number one rule of finals – when you have the other crowd where you want them, bury them. Donegal will spend the winter disgusted at the ease with which Kerry were able to do just that. They couldn't contain Paudie Clifford or Gavin White as they came scheming and steaming through the Donegal defence. They were penned in on their own kickout and allowed Shane Ryan to get his away too handily. And despite Brendan McCole's best efforts, David Clifford was unplayable. READ MORE 'We didn't perform, Kerry did perform, that's the bottom line,' said Jim McGuinness afterwards. 'They started very early in the game and they got a foothold in the game. I thought we responded quite well in the first half on our attack. We were good, we were clinical but I think they might have scored in their first six attacks, so we were struggling to deal with them in that period. 'From our own point of view, we made too many mistakes. We did things that we don't normally do. We made decisions that we don't normally do and we had just too many turnovers. We had too many turnovers and some of them were kind of clutch enough moments.' Kerry's David Clifford reacts to a missed chance during the All-Ireland SFC final. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho The reason for those turnovers and mistakes though was obvious to anyone watching. Donegal didn't bring anything like enough ferocity to the game, they so clearly didn't meet the moment the way the winners did. Kerry attacked this All-Ireland final like generations of Kerry teams before them. Faster to the ball, snappier to the breaks, more alive to the terms and conditions. Maybe in all the build-up we should have taken more account of the fact that only two of the Donegal panel had ever played in an All-Ireland final before whereas 11 of Kerry's line-up were here just two years ago. Whatever explains it, Kerry were seven points up here at the break and helpfully had a very recent example of what can go wrong from there. 'Our mantra at half-time was we weren't going to collapse like you saw probably with the Cork hurlers last week,' said Jack O'Connor afterwards. For O'Connor, this was a glorious way to sign off. He has always said this is his final year and he more or less confirmed as much in the aftermath. This is his fifth title, 21 years after his first. From his pulpit on the Hogan Stand, GAA president Jarlath Burns suggested that maybe now O'Connor should take his place alongside Mick O'Dwyer in the ranks of the Kerry immortals. Kerry manager Jack O'Connor watches on as Sam Maguire is presented. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho Now, you can make up your own mind on the framing there – O'Connor might just be entitled to think four in 20 years was enough on their own – and obviously these things are pointless and subjective. But this much is undeniable – when June was getting hot and clammy and Kerry were in crisis, they were blessed to have someone carrying two decades in his knapsack standing out front. O'Connor has been around long enough to know the currency of being able to keep putting one foot in front of the other. In Kerry, the tide doesn't stay out for long. 'They're all hard-earned but this one, I suppose, in particular, was hard-earned because we had a world of setbacks all year, starting with the league. An awful lot of injuries, lost a lot of good men. 'It's a massive panel effort and a backroom team effort. Delighted for the people that were with me as much as myself. Obviously, delighted for myself because it was a tough old year. I found this a tough year. Donegal players sit dejected after the trophy presentation. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho 'I was inside here a month ago and there was a lot of steam coming out of my ears. It wasn't faked or it wasn't put on. It was authentic because I felt that we were getting a lot of unfair stick and we were trying our butts off and have been from the start of the year. So, for us to finally get the reward is great. 'We were very determined leaving the hotel this morning. I had a few words with them just before we got on the bus that we were going to take the game to Donegal. We weren't going to sit back and just see what they had to offer. We were really going after them. We were going after Patton's kickouts. We were going to drive on.' They did and it was enough to blow Donegal to pieces. Both Cliffords were immense, Joe O'Connor guaranteed himself second place in the Footballer of the Year stakes and Gavin White put in one of the great captain's displays in any All-Ireland final. And so the 2025 championship ends Kerry on top. The year that football was reborn, the season the old game came back to its people, it all finishes with Sam Maguire back in the Kingdom and everybody else playing catch-up. Again. Yet bleedin' again. Jim? Jim Gavin? What the hell have you done?
