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Donegal GAA thread

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Replying To Commodore:  "I think a serious review is needed to understand why this season ended in such fashion for the U20s, to exit in such a way was shocking, and not what anyone expected. Something not right there."
It was a hard one to fathom. Obviously the wind was a factor. Donegal basically owned the first half and should have been a dozen points up but for some questionable decision-making and rash shot selection.
Even in the second half, we weren't exactly starved of possession, but we couldn't make any innroads on the scoreboard at all. Indeed it is often mentioned that with our traditional hard-running, hand-passing style of play, playing against a strong breeze isn't exactly alien or prohibitive to us.

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 10337 - 15/05/2026 10:08:31    2673110

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Replying To Scenicparish:  "That information should and will be kept in house."
Langan won't be back and reports Murphy has picked up a strain too

totalrecall (Leitrim) - Posts: 1227 - 16/05/2026 15:17:00    2673307

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Replying To totalrecall:  "Langan won't be back and reports Murphy has picked up a strain too"
If Langan actually is out for the season I'll be annoyed with Jim acting like there was nothing wrong with him.

eddieSize5Balls (Donegal) - Posts: 360 - 16/05/2026 20:37:43    2673382

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Replying To eddieSize5Balls:  "If Langan actually is out for the season I'll be annoyed with Jim acting like there was nothing wrong with him."
When did Jim say there was nothing wrong with Langan? Jim doesn't need to broadcast to anyone the fitness of any player. In fact no information should leave the training group about any player.

Scenicparish (Donegal) - Posts: 949 - 16/05/2026 21:12:52    2673392

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Replying To totalrecall:  "Langan won't be back and reports Murphy has picked up a strain too"
Yeah looks like Langan won't play in Killarney. Brian Mc said as much in his Donegal Democrat piece and he won't be getting that info from nowhere.

Congrats to the minors on an incredible comeback this afternoon. They looked dead and buried against a fancied Monaghan team but dug it out. They nearly done the same against a good Cavan team earlier in the campaign. Very hard to weigh them up. Were hammering Down prior to the postponed game and just about got over the line a week later (very very lucky to do so by all accounts). I think they have a couple of really good players coming back from injury so hopefully they give Derry a good battle with a win sending them into the AI series which would be fantastic.

panamasam (Australia) - Posts: 2952 - 16/05/2026 22:59:20    2673422

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Replying To Scenicparish:  "When did Jim say there was nothing wrong with Langan? Jim doesn't need to broadcast to anyone the fitness of any player. In fact no information should leave the training group about any player."
I think Jim mentioned in the press conference after the Down game that Michael Langan had went over on his ankle, insinuated that it wasn't likely to be serious, but he didn't go into detail on it.

Commodore (Donegal) - Posts: 1836 - 16/05/2026 23:14:33    2673426

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Replying To panamasam:  "Yeah looks like Langan won't play in Killarney. Brian Mc said as much in his Donegal Democrat piece and he won't be getting that info from nowhere.

Congrats to the minors on an incredible comeback this afternoon. They looked dead and buried against a fancied Monaghan team but dug it out. They nearly done the same against a good Cavan team earlier in the campaign. Very hard to weigh them up. Were hammering Down prior to the postponed game and just about got over the line a week later (very very lucky to do so by all accounts). I think they have a couple of really good players coming back from injury so hopefully they give Derry a good battle with a win sending them into the AI series which would be fantastic."
Great win for the minors alright. Were completely gone. In fairness they just kept going. MAMG did very well in the goals. And the two pointer from ohare was super and the last point was from Gillespie who is a player who was injured. Fair play.

Monaghan will be kicking themselves they didn't score in the last quarter. They had some big powerful chaps around the middle who dominated there for most of the game. Players like that do tire Donegal had legs at the end as well. It's also good to see two very fine players from urris. I can't remember the last time they had minor players.

And minors is so funny. The down match being a great example of that. So fingers crossed for a good performance next week in Derry

Ulsterchamps_32 (Donegal) - Posts: 1008 - 17/05/2026 19:04:11    2673619

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Replying To eddieSize5Balls:  "If Langan actually is out for the season I'll be annoyed with Jim acting like there was nothing wrong with him."
How long is the season ?
That would provide a clue

eoinog (Sligo) - Posts: 2439 - 17/05/2026 19:41:34    2673633

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Replying To Ulsterchamps_32:  "Great win for the minors alright. Were completely gone. In fairness they just kept going. MAMG did very well in the goals. And the two pointer from ohare was super and the last point was from Gillespie who is a player who was injured. Fair play.

Monaghan will be kicking themselves they didn't score in the last quarter. They had some big powerful chaps around the middle who dominated there for most of the game. Players like that do tire Donegal had legs at the end as well. It's also good to see two very fine players from urris. I can't remember the last time they had minor players.

And minors is so funny. The down match being a great example of that. So fingers crossed for a good performance next week in Derry"
Yeah and the game against Cavan. I think they were down 3 or 4 at half time and it really should've been at least another 4 or 5 more. However the second half was a different story but for a cheap opportunistic goal and a couple of poor decisions. Hopefully they give Derry their full and put in a fill performance.

panamasam (Australia) - Posts: 2952 - 17/05/2026 21:16:50    2673669

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Well done to Mark McHugh on landing a provincial title for rank outsiders Westmeath at 36 years young, getting in just before Dad Martin who lead Cavan to similar at 37.

I hope to God we don't let Mark slip through our coaching/management fingers down the line like we did with Martin.

peiledoir20 (Donegal) - Posts: 1609 - 18/05/2026 13:53:04    2673866

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Replying To peiledoir20:  "Well done to Mark McHugh on landing a provincial title for rank outsiders Westmeath at 36 years young, getting in just before Dad Martin who lead Cavan to similar at 37.

I hope to God we don't let Mark slip through our coaching/management fingers down the line like we did with Martin."
Would say he's bolted right up to the top of the pecking order, though I hope he stays on in Westmeath for a few seasons and continues to build! Of course, round one is Westmeath v Cavan!

SurelyToGod (Donegal) - Posts: 524 - 18/05/2026 14:25:27    2673890

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Replying To peiledoir20:  "Well done to Mark McHugh on landing a provincial title for rank outsiders Westmeath at 36 years young, getting in just before Dad Martin who lead Cavan to similar at 37.

I hope to God we don't let Mark slip through our coaching/management fingers down the line like we did with Martin."
I'm not sure about the politics behind blocking Martin McHugh, but he should have been given a shot back in the late 90s or early 2000s, maybe someone here can shed some light on why he wasn't given a chance?

Fair play to Mark, he was a brilliant player for Donegal in 2011 and 2012, but after the 2013 he kinda went off the rails a wee bit. I was a bit shocked he made the jump into Intercounty Management and that he has done so well, but I suppose the McHughs are all smart footballing minds. Looking at Westmeath, i think there is a lot of potential in that team, he could get a decent run out of them.

Commodore (Donegal) - Posts: 1836 - 18/05/2026 16:07:13    2673928

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Replying To Commodore:  "I'm not sure about the politics behind blocking Martin McHugh, but he should have been given a shot back in the late 90s or early 2000s, maybe someone here can shed some light on why he wasn't given a chance?

Fair play to Mark, he was a brilliant player for Donegal in 2011 and 2012, but after the 2013 he kinda went off the rails a wee bit. I was a bit shocked he made the jump into Intercounty Management and that he has done so well, but I suppose the McHughs are all smart footballing minds. Looking at Westmeath, i think there is a lot of potential in that team, he could get a decent run out of them."
I think it was after McEniff left in 1994 Martin McHugh went for the job. He had a backroom team in place and thought the job was his until they gave it to PJ McGowan. McGowan had won the u-21 in 1987 but McEniff got the senior job ahead of him after Tom Conaghan left.

Mark was pure class in 2011 and 2012. The hit he took from Golloghy that day in 2013 definitely had big effect on him as an inter county player. He never got to those 2011 or 2012 levels again.

HandballRef (Donegal) - Posts: 548 - 18/05/2026 17:20:17    2673969

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Fair play to Mark McHugh.
He is a shrewd football man and knows what it takes to win at the highest level.

He has an innate football brain. It was interesting to hear Eamon McGee talk about him recently. How in big games he'd look to see a defensive zone where Donegal might be exposed. But McHugh would already be there, having read the danger quicker than he did.

He really did specialise in that sweeper system. Reminded me a bit of Claude Makelele at Chelsea. He did that patrolling job in front of his defence so well that pundits ended up naming the position after him - "the Makelele role"

I'm not accusing Monaghan of anything here. They would have won that 2013 Ulster final regardless. But there is no doubt that when McHugh was poleaxed in that game, McGuinness lost a vital cog in his system.

Anyways I digress. Congratulations to Mark and hus Westmeath team. A well deserved Leinster title!

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 10337 - 18/05/2026 19:22:02    2673995

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Replying To HandballRef:  "I think it was after McEniff left in 1994 Martin McHugh went for the job. He had a backroom team in place and thought the job was his until they gave it to PJ McGowan. McGowan had won the u-21 in 1987 but McEniff got the senior job ahead of him after Tom Conaghan left.

Mark was pure class in 2011 and 2012. The hit he took from Golloghy that day in 2013 definitely had big effect on him as an inter county player. He never got to those 2011 or 2012 levels again."
Mark McHugh was deliberately targeted in that 2013 Ulster final, just like Karl Lacey was deliberately targeted by Tyrone players when he came on in the opening Ulster game in Ballybofey, seeing a few different Tyrone players target a specific hip of Lacey was no coincidence.

A lot of teams had spent the winter months studying our 2012 system and most had identified that the most effective way to combat it was to mirror it. However Mark McHugh was a bit of a wild card in what was otherwise a very rigid system, he basically had a free role and was a smart footballer and could pop up in attacks and still sweep at the back. He was badly hurt in that tackle.

Commodore (Donegal) - Posts: 1836 - 19/05/2026 09:14:54    2674054

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Replying To Commodore:  "Mark McHugh was deliberately targeted in that 2013 Ulster final, just like Karl Lacey was deliberately targeted by Tyrone players when he came on in the opening Ulster game in Ballybofey, seeing a few different Tyrone players target a specific hip of Lacey was no coincidence.

A lot of teams had spent the winter months studying our 2012 system and most had identified that the most effective way to combat it was to mirror it. However Mark McHugh was a bit of a wild card in what was otherwise a very rigid system, he basically had a free role and was a smart footballer and could pop up in attacks and still sweep at the back. He was badly hurt in that tackle."
Lacey was also targeted in the 2011 AI Semi Final. He was a huge loss after he was forced off that day.

peiledoir20 (Donegal) - Posts: 1609 - 19/05/2026 09:48:50    2674057

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Replying To peiledoir20:  "Lacey was also targeted in the 2011 AI Semi Final. He was a huge loss after he was forced off that day."
Karl Lacey was targeted in the main stand in Healy park in 2013 too, during National League match, Some unsavoury Tyrone fans spat at him, he had sat in the stand with crutch. Disgraceful behavior.

Commodore (Donegal) - Posts: 1836 - 19/05/2026 10:54:39    2674072

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Replying To HandballRef:  "I think it was after McEniff left in 1994 Martin McHugh went for the job. He had a backroom team in place and thought the job was his until they gave it to PJ McGowan. McGowan had won the u-21 in 1987 but McEniff got the senior job ahead of him after Tom Conaghan left.

Mark was pure class in 2011 and 2012. The hit he took from Golloghy that day in 2013 definitely had big effect on him as an inter county player. He never got to those 2011 or 2012 levels again."
Golloghy tackle was terrible, I never forgot it. He took his chance to go in heavy and unfortunately Mark was left hurt. I agree Mark never really returned to his best after that. Saying that we had the odd guy from Gweedore that could be described as firm but fair( most of the time ) ;-)

ulsterrules (Donegal) - Posts: 285 - 19/05/2026 11:05:53    2674077

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Replying To Commodore:  "Karl Lacey was targeted in the main stand in Healy park in 2013 too, during National League match, Some unsavoury Tyrone fans spat at him, he had sat in the stand with crutch. Disgraceful behavior."
In 2014 QF against Armagh 2 players targeted Lacey under the Cusack Stand. One got him in a chokehold and the other held his arms so he couldn't protect himself.

Sunday game was concerned about how the Donegal doctor went on the pitch to save Lacey

Newman21 (Donegal) - Posts: 60 - 19/05/2026 12:05:27    2674103

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Anyways what's done is done.

What about this weekend? I can't make it down now unfortunately so I'll have to settle for GAA+.
As usual, not a peep from the camp. We won't know until 14:59 what the definite starting team will be I'd say.
It would be great if Langan is back. He is an elite player now and if we're to have any hope of going one better this year we'll need him at full tilt. I'd also like to see if Oisin Gallen can really push himself into that elite category. He definitely has the potential, but it would be great to see him fully realise it.

It will be very interesting to see what kind of attention Murphy gets. Hurson will need to be strong.

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 10337 - 19/05/2026 14:43:43    2674155

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