“We lost that sort of flow we have had all year. They’ve played brilliant football, they’ve moved the ball really well, they’ve made brilliant decisions.
“There is nobody going to be giving out to them. We said in the dressing-room there it is not a day to talk about tactics. It’s a day to reflect on the work that they’ve done and the effort levels they’ve put in. And where they’ve got to.”
But there was no hiding the pain.
“Very disappointed, very, very disappointed. We thought we really had a chance of getting through and going to the final. I suppose the summary of it will be that we converted five of 14 [chances] in the second half, and converted 10 from 14 in the first half.
“We ran out of steam a wee bit coming down the stretch I think. I think Galway looked a bit more battle-hardened than us, maybe that experience of a couple of years ago [when reaching the All-Ireland final] was beneficial to them.”
Donegal finish the season as Ulster champions and having earned promotion from Division 2, ironically defeating Armagh in the final. The Orchard men are planning for an All-Ireland final in less than two weeks.
“Very proud of where they have come from,” McGuinness noted. “We needed to keep the momentum going and the momentum faded. I don’t think Galway changed anything dramatically, but certainly there were more questions asked of us. They brought the game-plan and the people we thought. There were no real surprises. It was a tough battle out there. Our lads probably ran out of steam a wee bit.”
In his first reign over Donegal, they won the All-Ireland in the second year. That reminder doesn’t dull the pain.
“People talk about year one – there is no such thing, there is no such thing. It’s this year. This was an opportunity this year and we had an opportunity and we felt we were in a really good position at half-time and felt if we kept it together, push it on for another 15 minutes we could potentially see the game out.
“It didn’t pan out for us that way and we have to take that on the chin, move on from it and take as many learnings from that as possible. You’re right, 2024 was on the line today. Armagh grasped that nettle yesterday and they’re in the final. We played them three times this year, we didn’t lose and good luck to them and good luck to Galway as well. I think it will be a really good final. So that’s it. You just have to take it on the chin and move on.
“It is a tough one to take, it is a really, really tough one to take, but that’s football. You know, these moments. Big games are decided on moments and there were a couple of moments there when the rub of the green wasn’t with us as well.
“The game ended a two-point game. The goal was very fortuitous. We had two brilliant blocks, defensively, and the ball fell to a Galway man. You know after two brilliant defensive blocks. So those wee bits and pieces as well, sometimes you’re thinking … you know, Oisín [Gallen] missed a free, like he could kick that over in his sleep.”
He was asked about a refereeing decision to award a free against Ciarán Thompson for touching the ball on the ground, leading to the lead point for Galway in the 65th minute from Rob Finnerty’s free.
“I don’t make comments about referees and I try to stay away from it. There were a number that we weren’t happy with. In the first minute, Ryan McHugh was breaking through, had two men pulling at him and he was blown for over-carrying. I don’t really want to go there; it is what it is. These games can be decided by one or two moments. We’ll take it on the chin.”
However, he admired the team’s response to Galway’s goal.
“A goal in Gaelic football is a big score, but our reaction to it was fantastic. We kicked the next three [points] and we had 10 points at half-time. It wasn’t a psychological blow. They worked through the processes and didn’t overthink. Once the ball hits the net you have to move on and they did that brilliantly well. We had to put in so much to get those scores.”
