DONEGAL MANAGER JIM McGuinness felt his side lacked the neccesary energy to really trouble Kerry but he was at a loss as to why they weren’t as tigerish as in previous games. The game turned on an errant Paul Durcan kick-out that resulted in a Kieran Donaghy goal but McGuinness felt that overall, his team weren’t good enough.
“We didn’t perform to the level we wanted to and that is why we lost the game,” McGuinness said.
“Over the 70 minutes we didn’t deliver what we know we are capable of delivering. That is the most difficult thing for us. I wouldn’t go down the road of individual errors. Our collective wasn’t good enough today and that is very disappointing.”
A feature of Donegal’s march to the final this season was their ability to break from defence in packs but Kerry were able to stifle that today. McGuinness’ preferred tactic of swarming Kerry with numbers in attack couldn’t be achieved as the Kerry defence isolated Donegal ball carriers.
“Even early in the game the energy in the legs wasn’t anywhere near the semi-final or the Ulster final,” McGuinness said.
“We wanted to overload Kerry with runners today but the boys didn’t have the energy to do that. One or two were going but getting isolated because there wasn’t four or five going.”
Ironically, Donegal were at their strongest right after conceding goals to Kerry, and McGuinness wondered what the result might have been had they maintained that intensity throughout.
“You could ask why we didn’t play normal time like we did when we reacted to the goals,” McGuinness said.
“Maybe the players were wishing the game away and hoping it would be 6pm and we would have the cup; I don’t know.”
After the game, speculation immediately turned to McGuinness’ future as Donegal manager. The coach said he would reflect on the job he did this year before deciding whether to come back, but said he would be open to returning if he still felt hungry for the challenge.
“The players don’t owe anyone anything,” McGuinness said.
“They have given everything over the last number of years and they have been a joy to work with. And the end of every year we go through the same process. You ask how much do I have in me and the players do the same and you think about your family and things like that.
“Everyone has these issues. We will reflect and if I think the hunger and the desire is there then we will make that decision and if I think it’s not then we will make another decision.”
