READ THE REID We need to cast our minds back to this time last year when Donegal surrendered their Ulster title to last Sunday’s opponents Monaghan. The previous year 2012 Donegal won the All-Ireland title and expectations were high within the county that another Ulster crown at least was with our grasp in 2013. It wasn’t to be. Monaghan overpowered a tired looking Donegal team. The pain and disappointment in the Donegal dressing room after the game was palpable. Even in dire despair Donegal resolved from thence forth, that we would retain the Ulster title in 2014. Monaghan were obviously delighted to dethrone Donegal last year. What they didn’t realise though that Donegal learned so much from that defeat. They employed similar tactics that Donegal and Jim McGuinness evolved in recent seasons but they added a hint of cynicism to their play. It didn’t go unnoticed believe me. Monaghan beat Donegal in the Division 2 National league final earlier this year. So what? You must remember that our first round Ulster championship opponents this year Derry were also featuring that same day at the same venue Croke Park and it would have been unwise to show our hand then. I believe that sacrifice for the greater prize was prudent. I will resist writing anything about Monaghan’s approach to playing football because there is so little to contribute in this respect. They didn’t do much bullying either last Sunday. Rather, I would prefer to elicit on Donegal’s complete superiority in last Sunday’s final. We always knew how Monaghan would play. In reality they tried to copy tactics which Jim McGuinness created. All that McGuinness had to do was create another set of tactics. I have stated more than once in this column that Donegal was a shadow of the team in last year’s final to what they were in 2012. I believe that Donegal is gradually regaining their form but there is a lot more in the tank. Winning an Ulster football title is akin to winning a Munster hurling final given the intensity of the competition. It may not seem that way to many football followers in other provinces. But here in Ulster we know. I would like to see how Mayo, Dublin or Kerry would fare up here! To date Dublin has played some very weak teams and have breezed to yet another Leinster title. Mayo huffed and puffed their way to an unexciting Connaught title while Kerry had to play only one team of note Cork who didn’t turn up for the final. For last Sunday’s Ulster final Donegal had all the motivation that any team required for victory. Jim McGuinness changed some of his management personnel, some players pulled out of the panel. This in itself was a great test of character for McGuinness. More importantly though was the opposition that Donegal had to face. It is no secret that Donegal would not have been pleased with Monaghan zealous approach last year. That said we cannot use that as an excuse for our defeat. We needed to remedy the errors and regain our hunger. If Donegal could match Monaghan’s physicality without the cynicism, we always knew that we possessed the better players who could play football. It is not in our psyche to employ underhand tactics. Down the years we have prided ourselves in our football ability. Many things have changed in respect of preparation etc but playing honest football has always been our core value. I do not in any way want to disrespect Monaghan. They have some fine footballers at present. I do not like a player following through with his knees in a tackle though. I do not like a player nipping his opponent constantly either. The last time Donegal beat Monaghan in a championship game was in 1983 Ulster semi final. I played that day and I remember Donegal’s Charlie Mulgrew getting his jaw broken by a Monaghan player. It was a bittersweet victory because of this incident. Move on just thirty one years. There weren’t any broken jaws thankfully but year Mark McHugh had to leave the field concussed after a wild tackle by a Monaghan player. I rest my case. We move on to the quarter final stages where Donegal will face either Armagh or Meath in Croke Park on August 9th. Donegal completed the double last Sunday when our minors also won the Ulster title thus creating history for Donegal. The future looks bright for the county with an abundance of talent coming through the ranks. I would like to congratulate Declan Bonner and his team on their recent success. On a lighter note I would like to share a joke that I have put in this column once before and it has nothing to with football. Paddy was being interview for a job as a lumberjack. The interviewer asked him what experience he had. Paddy replied. “I worked in the Sahara forest for many years”. “Don’t you mean the Sahara desert?” the perplexed interviewer retorted. “Oh” said Paddy, “Is that what they call it now?!” Keep the faith!
Posted on: Sat, 26 Jul 2014 18:14:41 +0000