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Irish Times
20-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Dean Rock: Jim McGuinness wants people to think it's Donegal against the world
It felt like Jim McGuinness had ripped some pages from the Alex Ferguson playbook last Sunday - the chapter on 'us against the world'. The Donegal manager was apparently frustrated by the scheduling of Dr Hyde Park to host his team's All-Ireland round-robin match against Mayo . His remarks to that effect caused something of a dispute between Donegal and the GAA's Central Competitions Control Committee . But sweep away that thin veneer and maybe it was more about engineering a sense of Donegal against the world. Or the world against Donegal. Take your pick. It was about galvanising the squad, galvanising the county. It was more about what's to come rather than what has already taken place. READ MORE McGuinness doesn't strike me as somebody who expresses such sentiments without having first walked through the consequences in his head. It's all part of a plan and a strategy. McGuinness remarked: 'You're 38 minutes from Mayo's training ground. We're 3½ hours from Inishowen. It's not fair. If I don't say it, who's going to say it?' Having travel distances at hand showed this was a message McGuinness had pre-cooked and was keen to express. It wasn't really about the venue. It was about creating a siege mentality. Additionally, it was used as a deflection tactic because Donegal's level of performance probably wasn't where he would have wanted it to be last Sunday. The Mayo match rounded off a slightly disappointing group stage for Donegal. They never really reproduced the levels they showed in the Ulster final. Donegal players form a huddle before last Sunday's match against Mayo. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho Donegal would have targeted finishing top of their group, so the last few weeks haven't panned out as McGuinness and his management team would have liked. The preliminary quarter-final is a game they could have done without. So, it was an opportune time to rally the county behind a cause, stir up a 'them versus us' mentality. Ultimately, it creates a fuss around an issue that is not going to have any material impact on whether Donegal win the All-Ireland or not. Should they beat Louth in Ballybofey on Sunday, then Donegal will play the rest of their championship games at Croke Park. Moaning about a venue at this stage is incidental. However, it does allow the Donegal squad and their supporters to unite behind a perceived sense of unfairness and use it as a motivational tool for the weeks ahead. In that regard, McGuinness had nothing to lose by shaking a few trees in his post-match interview last Sunday. At this stage of the championship, teams will use whatever they can to gain an edge. If you should be beating a team by 20 points and you don't beat them by 20 points, then that's probably a sign of complacency or a lack of humility For years, it was thrown at Dublin about playing all our championship games in Croke Park. When we were asked about it, the message from the players and management was consistent – we are happy to play anywhere; we don't decide on venues. And we were happy to play outside of Croke Park. That wasn't just a throwaway comment. Looking back now, some of my fondest memories were going to play down the country. Those away trips were great for team-bonding and encouraging camaraderie. I would have liked to play in more of the grounds around the country. Donegal manager Jim McGuinness looks on from the sideline during last weekend's match against Mayo, which his team won by a point. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho But we were aware of the narrative out there around us playing in Croke Park. When our success reached a certain level during that era, everybody outside of Dublin wanted us to be beaten, which is understandable. We certainly used that as a motivating factor. It wasn't a central tenet of our preparations, but I think we kind of fed off that as a group. We got a huge amount of confidence during that period because the group was so tight-knit. The dressingroom became a sacred place – when we were in there, it felt like it was us against everybody else, and that worked for us. It wasn't about going out to prove people wrong – it was more about showing the opposition absolute respect. You do that by beating them by as much as possible. If you should be beating a team by 20 points and you don't beat them by 20 points, then that's probably a sign of complacency or a lack of humility because you are not doing what you should be doing. And I think there might have been an element of that in the comments by McGuinness last week. Donegal need to rediscover their form from earlier in the championship, because in the defeat to Tyrone and for parts of last week's win over Mayo, they weren't doing what they should have been doing in terms of putting the opposition away. Instead, that result hung in the balance right until the last kick of the ball. Donegal's Ciarán Moore celebrates scoring the late winning point against Mayo. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho Given how the second half panned out, Donegal could quite easily have ended up losing and found themselves finishing third in the group and now facing the prospect of a trip to Killarney this weekend. So, while McGuinness will be pleased by the character and ruthlessness they showed to win the game, it wasn't as convincing a victory for Donegal as they probably would have liked. Instead, it was another draining 70 minutes for a team that has played more games than most in this year's championship. Sunday's preliminary quarter-final will be Donegal's eighth outing having already played Derry, Monaghan, Down, Armagh, Tyrone, Cavan and Mayo. Only Meath have played as many matches as Donegal – and the Royals have avoided the prelims. So, perhaps McGuinness just felt now was the right time to spark a little fire. You cannot keep the 'us against the world' psychology going for six months but it's something that can be helpful in a shorter window. There are just five weeks until the All-Ireland final, so McGuinness probably reasoned that leaning into it now would pull the group nice and tight for the journey ahead. There is probably a bit of pressure on the group as well because the expectation levels have increased – Donegal are fancied by many to win the All-Ireland. Patrick McBrearty and Michael Murphy celebrate in the dressingroom after Donegal beat Armagh in the Ulster SFC final in May. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho McGuinness delivered Sam Maguire in year two during his first term in charge and so parallels will be drawn between 2012 and 2025. One key difference is that for this group, 2025 looks like their best shot at winning the All-Ireland. Donegal made it back to an All-Ireland final two years after the 2012 triumph, but I wouldn't be as convinced this group will still be as competitive two seasons from now as they currently are. Michael Murphy, for one, is unlikely to be still togging out for the county. Will McGuinness still be there? Key players like Patrick McBrearty and Ryan McHugh have spent well over a decade in the trenches. I think it's pretty much now for this Donegal team. The players know this team's window for success will not be open forever. That all adds to the pressure. And with the team not performing as well as they should, maybe that's why this 'us against them' messaging emerged from the Donegal camp last weekend. Because, let's be honest, Donegal are not exactly the most loathed team in the country. Far from it, I would have thought. They are expected to beat Louth on Sunday and I believe that is exactly what will happen, but Ger Brennan's Leinster champions have nothing to lose and I'd expect them to bring a decent performance. Donegal's Oisín Gallen signs autographs after the game against Cavan at the start of June. Photo: Lorraine O'Sullivan/Inpho Beyond that, Donegal will need more from the likes of McBrearty and Oisín Gallen in supporting Michael Murphy up top. Gallen, for me, is the key. He was exceptional last year, won an All Star and brought that real x-factor quality to his play, but I don't think he has got back to those high standards this season. All it takes for a player of his ability to find his mojo again is one good game. If he can deliver a big performance against Louth, then Donegal will travel to Croke Park as a much more formidable outfit. Either way, the Ulster champions are likely to be among the last eight when the quarter-finals take centre stage next weekend. Because the racket last Sunday about venues wasn't really about Dr Hyde Park, it was about benefiting Donegal when they get to Croke Park.


Irish Times
15-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
‘This wasn't a fair one': Donegal's Jim McGuinness criticises choice of Dr Hyde Park as neutral venue against Mayo
Jim McGuinness has hit out at what he sees as unfair treatment of Donegal in having to go to Dr Hyde Park to play Mayo on Sunday. He believes his county has been singled out by the fixture-makers, with the game set for a venue that was so close and familiar to Mayo. 'We don't believe we should have been here today either, being honest with you,' McGuinness told reports after his side's one-point victory, which sent Mayo out of the championship. 'We think it was very unfair to bring us here. It was the equivalent of bringing Mayo to Omagh, and we also put in an email to the CCCC to say we couldn't get a hotel in the area so we had to stay in Athlone. We had to go beyond the venue to come to play in the venue. 'So it was the equivalent of Mayo going to play us in Omagh and staying in Derry and I don't believe that would happen. I think that would only happen because it's us. Disappointed in that. We made a case and we made the case early. It was on deaf ears.' When McGuinness was asked what he meant by 'because it's us', he was unequivocal in his response. 'Donegal, Donegal, Donegal.' READ MORE He added: 'We knew a month ago that it was going to be here and we also knew we couldn't get accommodation and we also knew that it was going to be difficult for our supporters. We put that case forward and that didn't happen. It happens for all the other teams so why does it not happen for us? Everybody else had a fair shake this weekend. 'If you look at the two counties and you look at the geographical position, then all the games were fair. This wasn't a fair one. You're 38 minutes from Mayo's training ground. We're three and a half hours from Inishowen. It's not fair. If I don't say it, who's going to say it? 'You always seem to be the one that's pointing fingers, but at the end of the day, my job – and it's 100 per cent my job – it's the players. The responsibility is to the players. When you're travelling on a bus for three hours the day before a game, that takes it out of your legs. But anyway, we'll move on. We'll see what they say, which will probably be nothing, and we'll move on.'


BBC News
15-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Moore breaks Mayo hearts to seal thrilling win for Donegal
Ciaran Moore popped up with a dramatic last-gasp winner to secure a 0-19 to 1-15 victory for Donegal in Dr Hyde Park and send Mayo crashing out of the All-Ireland Senior Football substitute Fergal Boland thought he had rescued a point with a late score, which would have been enough for the Connacht side to move into third spot in the Group One standings and eliminate Moore's winner meant Mayo came up empty-handed and finish bottom on head-to-head with the Breffnimen, who beat them in Castlebar on the opening how delicately the group was poised prior to the game, there was a guarantee of drama and the 18,731 in attendance certainly got bang for their buck. Donegal edge ahead It was tense at times, brilliant at others as this game hung in the balance right until the final kick, which was enough for a Donegal win, but not enough to finish top of the pile due to their own opening day defeat to the Red Hands, who had the head-to-head game began with a bang as Peadar Mogan and Darren McHale swapped early points, but Mayo were fortunate not to be punished with a goal as an Aidan O'Shea slip saw a lightning Donegal counter with Mogan put in, but he thumped Caolan McColgan added another, Mogan was black carded for a trip in the ninth minute and while he was away, Mayo hit three points as Ryan O'Donoghue's frees sandwiched McHale's second of the was a tense opening period with both sides defending well and giving little away cheaply, but the advantage swung back to Donegal following a two-point free converted by Michael the Ulster champions outscored Mayo by four to two heading into the break to lead 0-9 to 0-6, it seemed the game was now beginning to open up a little. Mayo fight back Mayo upped their game early in the second period with points from Jack Carney and O'Donoghue, but Donegal always seemed to have an answer when Mayo got to within one as the point-for-point run ended as Conor O'Donnell and Moore hit back-to-back got it back to one again and it seemed they had taken a huge step towards victory when O'Shea laid off a delicate pass to Jack Carney, who played in David McBrien to swivel and find the net via the the Donegal reply was excellent as substitute Daire O Baoill kicked an outrageous two-pointer to level, whilst points from Murphy and O'Donnell would Flynn pulled one back, Donegal had their chance to put it away as Mayo goalkeeper Colm Reape was caught outfield from a restart and Patrick McBrearty was through and seemingly certain to bury with two minutes to play, but Reape somehow recovered to get a block out for a 45 that Murphy were then denied a goal of their own with Carney snuffed out, but after an O'Donoghue free, Mayo got on the attack in the final minute and Boland kicked over the there were still about five seconds until the hooter when Moore got on the ball and found the reserves to gallop forward and sling over the winner which sent the Donegal support into raptures and broke Mayo hearts.


Irish Times
14-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Dean Rock: Mayo will need Aidan O'Shea to wreak havoc to beat Donegal
There were echoes of the old Mayo in how the current crop went about dismantling Tyrone two weeks ago. Just when you figured the air had gone out of Mayo's season, they suddenly took flight again . The question now though is which Mayo will turn up at Dr Hyde Park on Sunday – the lacklustre side that lost to Cavan or the high-energy team that beat Tyrone? When the stakes are high and the safety net is gone, that tends to be when Mayo perform. The victory over Tyrone was predicated on ferocious hard work all across the pitch, forcing turnovers and then breaking at pace. It was pure endeavour, aggression and just playing that unstructured man-to-man type game that seems to comes naturally to them. But it would be wrong to say it was all chaos football because Mayo managed the game quite well in the second half when Tyrone's surge arrived. During that period when Darragh Canavan got a goal and Tyrone were clearly in the ascendancy, Mayo didn't panic. READ MORE They maintained their shape, held the ball when required in a bid to take the sting out of the game, created some of their set 11 v 11 attacks and kept the scoreboard ticking over. They weathered the storm by adopting a structured approach – but they won the contest by playing their traditional brand of football in the first half. The victory was built on that first-half display. They will need to start like a steam train against Donegal as well because if they are trailing by five or six points at half-time, I don't see a way back for Mayo. And that's where a fundamental issue arises because one long-held criticism of Mayo continues to prevail – they aren't scoring enough. Mayo will probably need to get north of 21 or 22 scores to beat Donegal but on the evidence of what they've done this year, it doesn't look like they are going to be able to do that. Mayo's highest tally all season was the 2-20 they posted against Sligo in a Connacht quarter-final . Ryan O'Donoghue of Mayo and Canice Mulligan of Sligo during the Connacht championship. Photograph: Andrew Paton/Inpho In three of their six championship outings, Donegal have outscored that 2-20 tally. Donegal's lowest return was 0-20 against Tyrone. Mayo managed just 1-14 against Cavan , Donegal put 3-26 on Raymond Galligan's side . So, if Mayo are to remain alive in this year's championship they will need to bring their best attacking display of the year to the Hyde. The reality is that if Ryan O'Donoghue is contained Mayo will struggle to get scores from elsewhere. The absence of Tommy Conroy from the attack has allowed Mayo's opponents to really focus in on stopping O'Donoghue. One big plus for Mayo is the return of Paddy Durcan, and he showed against Tyrone that he continues to have the ability to carry a scoring threat from deep. Davitt Neary is also a threat carrying the ball at pace. But when it comes to adding more punch up top, the big question is whether Mayo can utilise Aidan O'Shea more productively? O'Shea was brilliant against Tyrone but I just wonder, with him in mind, have Mayo harnessed the new rules sufficiently and tested that long kick from outside the 45 to inside the 21? Because O'Shea has great hands and is a brilliant ball winner. With these new rules there is more space now for forwards if direct ball is kicked inside. Aidan O'Shea after a missed goal chance against Tyrone. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho Donegal have some very good defenders but they aren't necessarily the tallest in the game so O'Shea probably has a height advantage there which Mayo could exploit. Donegal might be forced to react to such a tactic by bringing a player like Hugh McFadden back, but if nothing else that would be giving Jim McGuinness something to think about, possibly altering and upsetting his plans. O'Shea is better known for his assists more than his scoring, laying the ball off with quick hands. I think he has to be more selfish against Donegal – he should take it upon himself to support O'Donoghue in the scoring department. O'Shea's scoring rate needs to be higher – he was excellent against Tyrone but in terms of his own shooting he only came away with 0-1. He scored 1-0 against Cavan and was held scoreless in the Connacht final by Galway . He managed only 0-1 against Leitrim in the semi-final but against Sligo he chipped in with 1-2, and that is the kind of range he needs to be targeting against Donegal. Over the years he has probably been too selfless in many ways by offloading to a team-mate – I'd like to see him be a bit more score-hungry this weekend because I don't think Mayo are going to win the game if O'Shea only scores a point or two. He needs to be just wreaking havoc in there because that in turn will create opportunities for O'Donoghue as Donegal will have more than just one threat to be fussing over. [ All-Ireland Series permutations: All to play for as group stage comes to close Opens in new window ] Mayo had poured so much of their season towards winning the Nestor Cup and so the disappointment of that Connacht final defeat to Galway at the start of May appeared season-defining. The subsequent defeat to Cavan all but confirmed Mayo's campaign was about to peter out. So where did the Tyrone performance come from? There were probably several contributing factors. Given the energy Mayo had expended for the Connacht final there was a natural comedown for the Cavan game and they potentially took their eye off the ball and weren't mentally or physically capable of lifting it for that match. The criticism after that loss and the outside noise suggesting Mayo's season was done would also have galvanised the group ahead of their trip to Omagh. The news then that Kevin McStay had taken ill and was stepping away on medical grounds would have further united that dressing-room. Add in the fact Mayo knew they were out of the championship if they lost to Tyrone and you were left with a very dangerous and motivated team. Mayo will be quite happy playing in Roscommon this weekend as well because they haven't lost a championship game in the Hyde since 2001. Cavan's Padraig Faulkner and Killian Brady tackle Ciarán Moore of Donegal in Kingspan Breffni Park. Photograph: Leah Scholes/Inpho However, Donegal's form over the course of the season has been stronger than what we have seen from Mayo. And if Mayo are struggling for scorers, Donegal have any amount of them. Mayo had seven different scorers against Cavan, Donegal had 12. Mayo must set the terms of engagement early on. Stripped all the way back, you'll essentially probably have unstructured Mayo versus very structured Donegal – so whoever gets to determine the flow of the game will be hard beaten. Ultimately, I think Donegal will toss too many problems at Mayo for Stephen Rochford's side to solve them all. But if Sunday does mark the end of Mayo's season, they will realise the damage wasn't done in the Hyde, rather it was done in that defeat to Cavan at MacHale Park. There was a kick in Mayo against Tyrone last time out but the loss to Cavan might yet prove to already have been a knockout blow.


Irish Times
01-06-2025
- General
- Irish Times
Tailteann Cup: Kildare and Fermanagh join Limerick and Wicklow in quarter-finals
Kildare may have secured the home quarter-final that they wanted in the Tailteann Cup on Sunday afternoon, but Sligo's late rally at Dr Hyde Park highlighted some of the vulnerabilities of the competition favourites. It finished 4-19 to 1-24 in favour of Brian Flanagan's side, with Daniel Flynn once again proving his value as he hit 2-3, following up from his tally of 2-4 against Tipperary last time out. Playing with a strong breeze at their backs, Kildare responded to Cian Lally's early goal for Sligo by hitting three of their own in the first 15 minutes. Flynn hit the first, toe-poking in a rebound after Aidan Devaney saved his initial effort, then James McGrath powered forward to find the bottom corner of the net and Alex Beirne added a third. But a pair of two-pointers was a poor return on a day when kickouts from the town end were easily covering 80 metres of ground if needed. A half-time score of 3-11 to 1-7 was not an insurmountable lead, though it looked a lot more convincing when Flynn added his second goal and Kildare led by 15 points with 50 minutes played. READ MORE Eventually Sligo found their shooting boots. Niall Murphy was unmarkable close to goal, shooting 0-10 in total from nine kicks, while Pat Spillane came off the bench to shoot two doubles. The lead briefly went down to two points (4-17 to 1-24) but Lee Deignan and Alan McLoughlin both missed the target from distance, Cian Lally turned down another scorable effort from range, and Mark Dempsey made a crucial fingertip save to prevent Murphy from playing in O'Connor with just the goalkeeper to beat, all in the last five minutes. In Group 1's other game, Leitrim won their first game of 2025 against Tipperary in Mullingar, but as the last-ranked third place team, their season still came to an end. In a low-scoring first half, Cian Smith's two-pointer was the only score in the opening 15 minutes, and goals from Jack Flynn and Tom Prior pushed Leitrim 2-2 to 0-3 ahead at half-time. Joe McGloin settled the game when his goal put nine points between the sides after 56 minutes. Leitrim didn't manage another score for 12 minutes, but still saw out the game 3-9 to 0-10. That result meant Antrim needed to beat London by at least eight points to keep their season alive, and they did that in Newry, running out 1-22 to 0-14 winners. London actually led 0-14 to 0-13 going into the final quarter, but Antrim came with a wet sail as Niall Burns (1-1), Dominic McEnhill (0-6) and Ryan McQuillan (0-4) scored well. Longford were the only team already eliminated going into Sunday's games, but despite that they turned out in style against Carlow in Tullamore, shooting seven first-half two-pointers to go with Oran Kenny's goal. Matthew Carey racked up 0-15 in total, including five of those first-half doubles, in a 1-20 to 1-15 win that pushed Carlow into third spot in the group. Fermanagh confirmed their passage through to the last eight in Croke Park where they outscored Wexford 0-9 to 0-4 in the final quarter. Seán Nolan's goal had Wexford in front by five with 30 minutes played, but Fermanagh grew into the game with Conor Love (0-9) leading their attack. Fermanagh now join Kildare, Limerick and Wicklow in the quarter-finals as group winners. In the preliminary quarter-finals next weekend, the home teams will be Sligo, Wexford, Offaly and Westmeath. They will be drawn to face Carlow, Antrim, Laois and New York on Sunday evening. Weekend Tailteann Cup results Group 1: Leitrim 3-9 Tipperary 0-10; Kildare 4-19 Sligo 1-24 Group 2: Offaly 3-16 Laois 3-18; Wicklow 3-29 Waterford 0-21 Group 3: Westmeath 0-18 Limerick 0-19; Antrim 1-22 London 1-14 Group 4: Carlow 1-15 Longford 1-20; Fermanagh 0-25 Wexford 1-17