Jim McGuinness: We stuck to our values and it paid off
Oisín Gallen of Donegal celebrates scoring his side's first goal in the All-Ireland SFC semi-final against Meath. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
By Paul Keane
A dozen different scorers. Hard runs coming from all angles. Quality, poise, power, pace and purpose all rolled up into one quite sensational Donegal performance.
It was some showing by the Ulster champions at Croke Park as they secured their return to the All-Ireland football final in the most impressive way imaginable, hitting Meath for 3-26 and winning by 20 points.
Donegal manager Jim McGuinness described the display, and the way they went about dismantling the Royal County, as the Donegal way. Hitting teams hard with endless lung bursting runs, he said, is in Donegal's DNA.
"When you're playing a running game and a support game, everybody needs to be able to do that, and I think everybody today did do that," said McGuinness. "We were able then to rotate players inside and give them a breather, other fellas can go back then and hopefully they're able to defend to the same level and attack to the same level as well.
"Listen, the game has changed dramatically over the last number of months. We just felt that it was important to see how those changes would grow, if you like, and then bring our own template of how we want to play the game to that. And it's served us well. I think Kerry have done the exact same thing.
"I think there was a lot of commentary maybe throughout the league that ourselves and Kerry were the only two teams that weren't embracing the twos (two-pointers).
"I don't think Kerry have done a huge amount differently, you know, they have their own way of playing as well. They play with their heads up, they're looking for dink balls, they're looking for third-man runners, they're looking to support.
"In the same way that we support off the shoulder, they're looking to do it the exact same way only with a different kick or whatever it is beforehand.
"So yeah, everybody's got their own principles and how they see the game. For me, it's important just to keep what it is to be from your county very close to the centre, and then move with the rules, and I think we've done quite a good job on that front."
McGuinness made an interesting guestimate after watching his team's power-packed performance about just how much of an increase there has been in energy and intensity demands.
"The game has increased, I'd say, by about 80 percent to 100 percent on last year alone, in terms of the physical attributes that are required in the game," he said. "Their explosive distances have almost doubled. So the challenge is absolutely massive. It is a different game now and it's a different era as well. And we have had to, and I have had to, make adjustments to that in terms of how we train and the length of time we train."
Michael Langan of Donegal in action against Conor Gray of Meath. Photo by Daire Brennan/Sportsfile
Donegal appear to have got it just about spot on, enjoying their ninth win of this season's championship.
McGuinness pointed to the depth in their squad too, saying that has been a big part of why they've gone a step further than 2024 and qualified for the final.
"We knew that we needed people to come in and give us more depth and to strengthen us," he said. "Odhran McFadden Ferry came into the team in the second-half today, Eoin McHugh has come back in, Michael Murphy has come back in, Eoin McGettigan.
"We knew we had to be stronger and to build the energy within the group. We were able to make those changes today the whole way through the game and going in to play Kerry in an All-Ireland final, you're going to need every man that you've got.
"That's a huge challenge and they (Kerry) are so confident about what they do and there's a rite of passage there almost, in terms of winning All-Irelands, so that's the first thing we're going to have to meet head on. But certainly it'll not be 15 players, it'll be every single player that can get onto the pitch that will be needed."
Ultra experienced forward Patrick McBrearty was one of the players that McGuinness called upon from the bench. The Kilcar man struck three points and looked sharp and lively, making a pressing case for inclusion from the start against Kerry.
McBrearty was there in 2012, when Donegal won their last All-Ireland, and in 2014 when the county contested its last final. He didn't expect it would take this long to get back to another final.
"Definitely not," said McBrearty. "When we left here in 2014, I didn't think it would be 2024 until we reached our next semi-final. We massively, massively underachieved from '14 to '24 basically, in our eyes. When Jim came back, standards were raised back to where they were and we're just delighted to be back here but yeah, they were a barren couple of years."
