'Really tough one to take': Jim McGuinness on Donegal's All-Ireland semi-final loss

Jim McGuinness addressed his players deep in the Hogan Stand on Sunday and reminded them it wasn't a day to talk tactics.

Donegal lost a game of inches as Galway advanced to the All-Ireland final. The scoreboard read 1-14 to 0-15. So near and yet so far.

McGuinness's Donegal have played at times like Duracell bunnies, but the Donegal admitted that the “batteries ran a wee bit low” on Sunday as the game headed for its conclusion.

This, though, is a Donegal team that was beaten from all corners, on the pitch and off it, in 2023. Just a couple of hundred souls bothered to venture to Down to see them exit the 2023 Ulster Championship.

Since McGuinness's return for 2024, they've won Ulster - having earned promotion to Division 1 - and had 30,000 Donegal fans lifting the noise at Croke Park.

“It’s a huge day. It’s a huge day and there’s a lot of emotion attached to the day, the stadium is nearly full and there’s 30,000 Donegal people,” McGuinness said.

“All of that ties into the players and they’re bringing all that to the table so it’s probably natural enough when you narrow into that, that you find the going a wee bit tough.

“They’re on the cusp of something really big themselves and to try and keep that going was a wee bit challenging “

Galway played in the 2022 All-Ireland final, losing to Kerry and this is Pádraic Joyce's fifth year as manager.

Paul Conroy landed the goal in the 24^th minute. His shot from 40 yards was miscued but, as Matthew Tierney unsighted Shaun Patton, the ball flew to the net.

“A goal in Gaelic football is a big score, but our reaction to it was fantastic,” said McGuinness, whose team scored five of the next seven points to draw level, 0-10 to 1-7, at half-time. “The goal wasn't a psychological blow.

“The players stayed on task, they worked through the processes and didn't over think. 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.”

McGuinness came into the media room in Croke Park and described the feeling as 'very disappointed. Very, very disappointed'.

He said: “We felt that we really had a chance of going through to the final. The summary of it will be that we converted five of 14 in the second half and we converted 10 from 14 in the first half.

“We ran out of steam a wee bit coming down the stretch and Galway looked a wee bit more battle hardened than us. Maybe the experience of a couple of years ago was beneficial to them.”

Donegal also saw Eoghan Ban Gallagher forced out of the game in the second half and the Ulster champions missed his driving bursts.

“We needed to keep the momentum going and the momentum faded,” McGuinness said.

“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.

"A part of that has to be down to fatigue and decision making. The batteries ran a wee bit low and what you'd do naturally or normally becomes a bit more difficult.

“We sort of lost that flow that we have had all year. They've played brilliant football, moved the ball well and made brilliant decisions so there's nobody going to be giving out to them.

“We said to them in the dressing room that it's not a day to talk tactics. It's a day to reflect on the work they have done, the effort they have put in and where they have come from.

“It is a really tough one to take, but that's football. Big games are decided on big moments.”