Jim McGuinness return 'lifted the whole county': Ryan McHugh cherishing every moment

In the weeks after Donegal won the All-Ireland in 2012, an 18-year-old Ryan McHugh was among those high up on Jim McGuinness's list.

McGuinness drafted McHugh into his squad and in 2014, when Donegal returned to the All-Ireland final, the Kilcar man was named as the GAA's Young Player of the Year.

Post-McGuinness, McHugh collected Ulster titles in 2018 and 2019, but the big days seemed long gone in the years since.

With injuries nagging, McHugh stepped off the panel during the 2023 season.

The return of McGuinness has coincided with McHugh returning to his deadly best. Superb against both Derry and Tyrone, McHugh is relishing a return to the Ulster final.

“I'm really enjoying it and it's a huge privilege to get to put on the Donegal jersey,” McHugh said.

“It's something that I don't take lightly. Every time I put it on, I cherish it.

“Time waits for no-one and I'm getting older so I cherish it a wee bit more now. I'm moving alright and hopefully I can keep it going.”

McGuinness came back with Donegal 'on their knees'. When the final whistle went on Sunday, after a gripping 0-18 to 0-16 win over Tyrone in the Ulster semi-final, the ball was in McHugh's hands.

Soon, he was engulfed in the green and gold waves that swooshed across Celtic Park.

“Huge relief when the final whistle went, just to get over the line,” he said. “To see the people of Donegal coming swarming onto the pitch was unbelievable.

“When you get over the line in the Ulster Championship, by a point or ten points, you're delighted.

"Jim coming back in has given the whole county a massive lift. He deserves a lot of credit because he didn't have to come back. He had proved everything to the county and the country before.

"He took us on when probably we were on our knees, to call a spade a spade.”

Twice on Sunday, Donegal trailed by three points.

Posting 15 wides, it was one of those days that might've as easily gone awry.

“Very disappointed with the first half.” McHugh said. “We were very laboured, over and back. We didn't produce our game plan how we wanted to.

“We made Tyrone work a lot harder in the second half.

“Every match is different. It's a dangerous thing to go in believing that you're going to win matches by four or five points. Every single day that doesn't happen. Tyrone are a Division 1 time and hadn't become a bad team overnight.

“We have a lot of things to work on. It's not easy playing games every week and getting the bodies right, especially after such a high last week and putting so much into that.

“Bouncing back was extremely tough.”