Donegal will go after All-Ireland 'with everything we have': Jim McGuinness

Jim McGuinness has vowed that Donegal will chase Sam Maguire 'with everything we have'.

After winning a dramatic Ulster final against Armagh on penalties on Sunday, Donegal now head for the All-Ireland group phase with a real pep in their step.

Derby foes Tyrone are due at Sean MacCumhaill Park on Saturday-week, May 25, to get the group stage underway with games against Cork and Clare to follow.

The return of McGuinness has taken Donegal to the top of the province – and now Donegal fans are daring to dream.

“They will be a different animal purely because they are ulster champions,” McGuinness told the thousands who welcomed the victorious squad back to Donegal Town on Sunday night.

“We have to find a way to harness that and that is the challenge we will put to the boys.

“Now, we have taken those two massive steps of promotion and winning the League and then winning the Ulster Championship, there is only one thing left. That is the reality. We will go after that with everything we have.”

Sunday's was McGuinness's fourth Ulster SFC title as the Donegal manager having won three during his first stint at the helm. The Glenties man also led Donegal to the All-Ireland in 2012.

After Sunday's game, McGuinness recalled how, the day after Donegal lost a preliminary quarter-final to Tyrone last June, a visit from captain Patrick McBrearty pulled on his heart strings.

Donegal were at a low ebb as the 2023 campaign ended, but McGuinness's return has heralded the return of silverware.

The manager was keen to put the praise to his players.

He said: “They are an amazing group for what they have done. They really are. There were a lot of question marks over the group and there were a lot of question marks last year.

“We have been in a lot of sticky situations this year. We have been in a very difficult situation in Armagh, a very difficult situation in Croke Park (against Armagh in the Division 2 final) when the wheels came off and we found ourselves down in a crucial moment.

“It was the same against Tyrone, twice against Tyrone and particularly the second time when the game was in the melting pot. It really did feel like a lot and they found a way to rise above that.”

Sunday's Ulster final was a similar tale with Donegal twice finding themselves four down. In extra time, they were two behind with two minutes left.

McGuinness said: “It was heavy going and yet in the middle of all of that, at four points down, they found a way. That is really the trait of a good team. That is flowing through this team quietly all year.”