We ran out of steam – McGuinness

Donegal boss Jim McGuinness felt fatigue set in for his side as they lost by two points in the All-Ireland semi-final to Galway.

A common theme for Donegal this year has been their ability to get on top of teams coming down the home stretch and their powerful running game has helped them get over the line.

However, coming into the final 20 minutes, the side posted just one score along with a number of poor wides.

And McGuinness felt that while it is uncommon for the team, they began to tire.

“I think a part of that has to be down to fatigue and decision making. The fact that the batteries ran a wee bit lower and what you do normally becomes a wee bit more difficult and we lost that sort of flow that we’ve had all year.

“They’ve played brilliant football all year and moved the ball well and they made brilliant decisions so there’s nobody going to be giving out to them.

“We said in the dressing room (after) that it’s not the day to talk tactics it’s the day to reflect on the work that they’ve done and the effort levels that they’ve put in and where they’ve got to.

“It was a tough battle out there and our lads probably ran out of steam a wee bit and Galway managed to keep going.”