RYAN FERRY takes a look back at the season that has just been for the Donegal Senior Footballers.
A is for Athletic Grounds: Wins in the Athletic Grounds are hard-earned with a partisan home support to contend with. Donegal claimed the spoils when they met this year on a scoreline of 1-20 to 0-19 but goalkeeper Gavin Mulreany did pull off a great penalty save from Oisin Conaty late on.
B is for Biscuits: Kerry manager Jack O’Connor happily sat eating a few biscuits and drinking a cup of tea after his team’s defeat to Donegal in Fr Tierney Park. David Clifford was left at home for that trip and O’Connor talked about the great venue and great crowd. His humour wasn’t so good after the next two games with Donegal.
C is for Counsel: Jim McGuinness raised eyebrows after a lively press conference following Donegal’s win over Dublin in January when he defended his coaching practises. “I only take counsel from people that have been there and done that. If it’s an All-Ireland winning manager or a top coach, I’ll listen to them and I’ll listen to what they have to say. But I don’t listen to anybody outside of that because it doesn’t make sense.”
D is for Drenched: Donegal and Antrim fans were left drenched after their McKenna Cup match at Cargin in January. The main pitch wasn’t deemed playable so a senior inter-county match was played on a secondary field that was not befitting of the big crowd in attendance. Donegal by 1-15 to 0-7.
E is for Energy: Donegal appeared to have boundless energy in the early part of the season but they didn’t seem to have it come the business end of the campaign. Their athleticism became less and less of a factor while there was a lethargic and predictable element to the team’s play.
F is for False Start: Donegal’s season got off to a false start when their opening match in the Dr McKenna Cup was postponed. Club volunteers at St Eunan’s worked hard to make the pitch playable at O’Donnell Park, but the poor weather conditions meant travelling to the match was deemed unsafe.
G is for Guessing: Donegal manager Jim McGuinness was happy to rotate the captaincy at the start of the campaign, and when asked after the Dr McKenna Cup match with Derry, the bainisteoir told reporters that he would ‘keep you guessing for another while’. It was more than two months later before it was confirmed, and there wouldn’t have been too many who would have guessed correctly that there would be joint-captains with Michael Langan and Shane O’Donnell taking over from Patrick McBrearty.
H is for the Hyde: Donegal’s first defeat of the season came as a surprise when they were beaten by Roscommon on a blustery day at Dr Hyde Park. The Rossies were 11 ahead at the break, and while Donegal clawed their deficit back to one, the home team pushed on in the closing stages with Conor Hand palming in the Killer goal.
I is for I is for Illegal Streaming: There was plenty of controversy when two of Donegal’s matches with Down and Kerry were put behind the paywall on GAA+. However, a bigger issue arose when the Cork match wasn’t broadcast at all. It led to a bizarre situation where some local businesses were encouraging illegal streaming from those in attendance. That didn’t materialise and people had to rely on the wireless.
J is for Jason McGee: The big Falcarragh man has had terrible luck with injuries down through the years but he got a good run at things this year and was one of Donegal’s most consistent players, lining out in every game and providing key scores on a regular basis.
K is for Killarney: Kerry had only lost one championship game in Killarney in 31 years before Donegal visited in May. The fact that Micheal Burns was sent off at half-time had a big say but goals from Ciaran Moore and Shea Malone gave the away side a 2-20 to 0-16 win.
L is for Lifford: It has been suggested that it was due to the leaking of Michael Langan’s injury before the Down match or perhaps there was just more privacy, but Donegal elected to change their training base from the Training Centre in Convoy to Lifford’s club pitch over the last two months of the season.
M is for Melee: Donegal found themselves in two melees which raised controversy during the year. Jim McGuinness was fortunate not to get a suspension after the fracas in Killarney and had a frosty exchange with Off The Ball’s Tommy Rooney. Another row erupted at the end of normal time against Dublin and this time Donegal were punished by losing two of their best players in Michael Murphy and Jason McGee and couldn’t cope without them for ten minutes in extra-time.
N is for Neighbours: For the first time since 2014, there was no derby clash with Tyrone this season. However, Donegal did take on their neighbours from Derry in the McKenna Cup semi-final and produced a good second half to win by 1-18 to 1-16 on a Wednesday night in Celtic Park. A possible Ulster Final between the sides felt like a real possibility at the time but both counties fell short.
O is for Overseas training camp: In McGuinness’s first two years in charge, the team headed away at the start of the campaign for warm weather training. They opted to leave it until after the league this year to head to Portugal, but didn’t get the bounce they would have wanted from the camp.
P is for Pantomime Villain: There’s little doubt that Michael Murphy should have seen red in the League Final for his over-zealous tackling on Dylan Casey. He didn’t and it really put him in the spotlight after that with opposition players onto the referees after his tackles regardless of force. There were strong boos for the Glenswilly man during the Kerry and Dublin matches as he was painted as the pantomime villain. That can be put down to herd mentality but it was lousy treatment of a GAA great.
Michael Murphy of Donegal before the match between Roscommon and Donegal at King & Moffatt Dr Hyde Park in Roscommon. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
Q is for Questions: As the season came to a premature end, Donegal are left with plenty of questions. Did they go too hard at the League? Where did the midfield dominance go? How did the season unravel so quickly? Will McGuinness stay on, and what about some of his trusted lieutenants on the field?
R is for Recall: Mark Anthony McGinley was recalled to the Donegal panel after a seven-year absence as goalkeeping cover. It proved to be a fleeting return but he was on the bench for the Galway game. Donegal lost Stephen McMenamin to a red card in that match but still came back to force a draw thanks to Peadar Mogan’s two-pointer.
S is for Screensaver: Down came with a great plan to beat Donegal In the Ulster quarter-final and they played with real belief and heart. It also turned out that their manager Conor Laverty was motivated by an RTE mistake that said Donegal would be facing Kerry in the Ulster semi-final. Laverty used the incorrect graphic as a screensaver for four weeks before the trip to Letterkenny.
T is for Turnover: Donegal had all their main players fit for last year’s All-Ireland Final so everyone knew where they stood in the pecking order. Perhaps it wasn’t a surprise that there was such a turnover of players from the previous years, and it is a huge commitment, but Donegal’s depth struggled as a result. Patrick McBrearty and Caolan Ward retired while Niall O’Donnell, Aaron Doherty, and Odhran Doherty all stepped away. Other highly-rated young players such as Karl Magee, Luke McGlynn, and Jack Gallagher opted out, while Jonny Carlin linked up with Wicklow, and has helped them to the Tailteann Cup Final.
U is for Under 20s: Donegal had six Under 20s involved with the panel this year – Finnbarr Roarty, Max Campbell, Conor McCahill, Padraig Mac Giolla Bhride, Turlough Carr, and Kevin Muldoon, and they were particularly busy early in the year as they combined both teams. Indeed, Roarty and Campbell both played in the Under 20 semi-final on the Wednesday night before the defeat to Down on the Sunday. McCahill, Carr, Mac Giolla Bhride, and Campbell are all eligible for the Under 20s again next year and it will be interesting to see if there’s a change in approach.
V is for Victorious: Donegal were underdogs for the Division 1 League Final but were victorious following a stunning display against Kerry. they really went for Kerry and made a big statement. They dominated the Kingdom and won by a staggering 13 points. It was the county’s second ever Division 1 crown.
W is for Whiskey: Some GAA old stock from Latton watched on as Monaghan found the going tough in the Dr McKenna Cup Final against Donegal. However, a hip flask of whiskey was passed along the back bench in the stand at Healy Park to help lift the spirits.
X is for X-Ray: Daire Ó Baoill made a superb start to the season and his two-point threat was huge in those early weeks. However, an x-ray detected a broken hand after the Kerry league match, and despite his best efforts, the Gaoth Dobhair man just couldn’t work his way back into the starting line-up.
Y is for Years: It was seventy-five years since O’Donnell Park had hosted an Ulster Championship match but after weeks of uncertainty, it was given the green light to host Down when MacCumhaill Park’s redevelopment wasn’t completed in time. A great effort went in to make sure the day ran smoothly, it was just a pity that the result didn’t follow. However, the team didn’t fare any better when they returned to Ballybofey for the Cork game.
Z is for Zach Bryan: The Donegal players would have been hoping to be training last week but defeat against Dublin brought the curtain down on their campaign. Many of the players took the opportunity to attend a Zach Bryan concert and there will be a chance now to re-charge the batteries and enjoy themselves socially. Hopefully the bulk of the panel will have the appetite to go again in 2027 and continue to compete against the best sides in the country.