RYAN FERRY looks back at Donegal’s Ulster SFC quarter-final defeat against Down
1. Concession of goal chances is a worry
It’s going to be challenging to win games when you’re shipping 3-21.
And the reality for Donegal is that they were fortunate that it wasn’t more.
Down could have had at least three more goals as they cut the Donegal defence open at will.
The Mourne county deserve credit for their fast breaks and slick inter-play.
And the fact that Caolan McGonagle was man-marking Odhran Murdock had an impact as he has been a key cog at the heart of the defence.
However, it would be wrong to suggest it was just a one-off system malfunction.
There’s been a lot of focus on how the Donegal backline have been stepping out more and not sitting back like last year.
However, that has come at a cost.
The first Down goal on Sunday from Daniel Guinness was similar to Conor Hand’s major for Roscommon in the Hyde and Ryan O’Toole’s low strike for Monaghan in Clones.
On each occasion, Donegal lost possession high up the field and couldn’t get back in time to slow the attack.
Gavin Mulreany made a string of good saves during the league and even in a memorable league final win over Kerry, Donegal still coughed up two poor goals.
Jim McGuinness and his management team have time now before their next match and they need to try and find a way to bring back more solidity to the backline.
2. Langan was a huge loss
There can be little doubt that Down’s objective became more achievable when Michael Langan was ruled out of Sunday’s game.
The big St Michael’s man is one of the best players in the country and Donegal are not the same team without him.
The Creeslough man is a huge threat from the arc and that helps to pull teams out of defence, while he would have helped in the aerial exchanges where Donegal didn’t do as well as they would have hoped.
There’s also the strong possibility that he would have squared up against Odhran Murdock which might have nullified his influence.
Donegal didn’t have Langan for the opening match with Derry last year and still won by ten points so they have performed in his absence before.
But he is a huge player and in games against Tyrone and Monaghan last year when Donegal were behind, the All-Star came up with some huge plays.
Donegal will hope his injury isn’t too bad as they will need him fit and firing in the All-Ireland Series.
3. Was Under 20 semi-final a distraction?
It would be unjust to say the fact that two of Donegal’s players lined out in an Under 20 semi-final on the Wednesday night had a huge influence on the Down game but it did perhaps serve as a distraction.
Down manager Conor Laverty said in O’Donnell Park that his team had met up in each of the previous ten days as they left no stone unturned in their preparations.
That level of intensity would have a short shelf life and it wouldn’t necessarily suit every team.
Donegal were away on a training camp and felt they had their homework done going into the game.
There was evidently a belief there that Finnbarr Roarty and Max Campbell would play against Tyrone in Convoy and still be fresh to go again on Sunday.
But what if that game against the Red Hands had gone to extra-time (and it very easily could have), would Jim McGuinness have had to tweak his team if Roarty had played eighty minutes just a couple of days before?
If both teams had won, it would have been the exact same situation this week with an Ulster Final on the Wednesday night and a semi-final at the weekend and surely at that stage, something would have had to give.
It’s unfortunate that the two championships are clashing at the same time but there doesn’t seem to be any great appetite to change.
McGuinness has talked of the benefit of players lining out with their peers but it creates a heavy workload.
Campbell is Under 20 again next season and it will be interesting to see how Donegal deal with it if they find themselves in a similar position once more in 2027.
4. No left-footed free-taker
The lack of a left-footed free-taker was always likely to be an issue for Donegal at some stage, and perhaps the biggest surprise is that it wasn’t until the start of the Championship that it came into focus.
Patrick McBrearty was a reliable placed-ball striker for the last ten years with a high conversion rate.
If the Kilcar man wasn’t on the field, Ciaran Thompson was more than capable of deputising.
McBrearty has retired and Thompson is still working his way back from an ACL injury so there has been a void but Donegal didn’t have many left-footed frees over the course of the league.
Conor O’Donnell tapped one over against Kerry but the frees Donegal won were mostly on the other side of the field.
Perhaps Down were aware of that when they were tackling but on Sunday, Donegal left frees behind them.
Michael Murphy hit the post with an effort he took off his right foot, and played two frees short from just over the arc, when if it was on the other side of the field, it’s highly likely he would have had his eyes set on an orange flag.
Peadar Mogan and Conor O’Donnell have hit left-footed frees for their clubs but maybe aren’t deemed reliable enough while Oisin Gallen and Murphy are generally accurate from either side of the field.
Donegal will have to try and find a solution because top teams need to be landing scoreable frees.
5. First game of All-Ireland Series will be vital
After so much talk of whether Donegal would want the League Final or not in March, they will now find themselves with just one match in eight or nine weeks.
That could work in their favour. Gruelling Ulster campaigns did appear to take an impact in the early stages of the All-Ireland Series over the last two years and perhaps they will be fresher this time around.
In the past, defeats in Ulster have left a sting and Donegal have struggled to overcome that.
However, this is only the second time in 15 years that they have failed to at least make it through to the semi-final.
It’s new territory for McGuinness as in each of his previous seasons in charge, he has taken Donegal to the provincial decider.
The Glenties man will adapt and you would expect him to have his team primed and ready for when their campaign resumes.
There will be a second chance if Donegal lose their All-Ireland Series opener but if the side is to recover their momentum and flow, it feels like that first match will be vital.
There’s a good chance they will land a heavyweight away from home but Donegal remain a real contender and they will stand a strong chance regardless of which corner of the country they will have to visit.