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Donegal GAA thread

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Kerry blitzes us in the first 20mins and we couldn't match their intensity or energy. They were 9 points up after 20mins. Gavin White got 2 brilliant points in the 1st half. But in my opinion it was David Clifford's three 2 pointers and Sean O'Shea's 2 pointer in the 1st half that did the real damage.

Kerry obviously knew we would sit in a low block with 2 sweepers, so they targeted the 2 pointers, as we weren't putting much pressure or tracking Kerry players outside our 45/arc, so they could tee the 2 point shots up. Kerry attempted Eleven 2 pointers in the first half into the Canal end.

At the end of the match the final shot tally was 35 for Kerry, 31 for Donegal. The conversion rate was 22 scores for Kerry and 19 scores for Donegal, so the Five 2 pointers for Kerry were a huge difference against our Zero 2 pointers.

When we had possession in attack, Kerry went man-to-man with us inside their 45 and closely tracked our players outside the 45, so that effectively made it very difficult for us to get 2 point shots away or lined up. Conor O'Donnell had a brilliant game and was able to take on his man inside the arc and score, so I assume Kerry were not too concerned to concede those 1 pointers as a consequence of going man-to-man, with their main aim of stopping the 2 pointers.

But huge credit to the Donegal players for never giving up and clawing it back to 4 points with 12 mins remaining and we got to grips in midfield in the second half, but Kerry were still able to hoover up breaking ball on their own kick outs.

An interesting stat from the end of the game, Kerry had 24 kick outs and won 15(62%) and lost 9(37%), Donegal had 29 kick outs and won 19(65%) and lost 10(34%). Donegal player and management team will have learn so much from that final and there'll be a huge hunger to correct it in 2026.

The_viewer (Donegal) - Posts: 28 - 08/02/2026 22:59:36    2655573

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Replying To Scenicparish:  "Of course Gavin destroyed us. With Kerry dominating midfield Gavin got lots of opertunities to get forward. We have plenty of good runners as well, Finbar, Peadar, Ryan and Ban but the midfield battle needs to be won first."
Exactly. If Donegal were mopping up in midfield, Gavin White would have been on the back-foot for most of the game, rather than being able to bomb forward. Having a dominant midfield is a dream for an attacking wing-back with pace.
Even from both throw-ins, it was Kerry who won them and knocked them down to an onrushing White. I did think McGuinness missed a trick by not having someone like Ciarán Moore track him, once it was clear he was going to be getting forward so regularly. Yes, it would reduce Moore's ability to impact the game positively, but he wasn't getting the chance to do it anyway, with how the game was developing. At least his attributes would have been put to better use.

WanPintWin (Galway) - Posts: 2719 - 08/02/2026 23:27:37    2655578

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Replying To peiledoir20:  "O'Baoill is out for a few weeks."
Yes, heard that this morning, surgery today on the hand or something.

Whyme923 (Donegal) - Posts: 136 - 09/02/2026 10:58:42    2655613

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Replying To Scenicparish:  "Of course Gavin destroyed us. With Kerry dominating midfield Gavin got lots of opertunities to get forward. We have plenty of good runners as well, Finbar, Peadar, Ryan and Ban but the midfield battle needs to be won first."
Why did kerry destroy us around the middle. You don't get many chances at winning all irelands si why were we so laboured.. I honestly feel jim should have added someone new to the backroom team. Kerry win and they still added donaghy..

rorysboys (Donegal) - Posts: 2685 - 09/02/2026 12:05:52    2655635

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Replying To The_viewer:  "Kerry blitzes us in the first 20mins and we couldn't match their intensity or energy. They were 9 points up after 20mins. Gavin White got 2 brilliant points in the 1st half. But in my opinion it was David Clifford's three 2 pointers and Sean O'Shea's 2 pointer in the 1st half that did the real damage.

Kerry obviously knew we would sit in a low block with 2 sweepers, so they targeted the 2 pointers, as we weren't putting much pressure or tracking Kerry players outside our 45/arc, so they could tee the 2 point shots up. Kerry attempted Eleven 2 pointers in the first half into the Canal end.

At the end of the match the final shot tally was 35 for Kerry, 31 for Donegal. The conversion rate was 22 scores for Kerry and 19 scores for Donegal, so the Five 2 pointers for Kerry were a huge difference against our Zero 2 pointers.

When we had possession in attack, Kerry went man-to-man with us inside their 45 and closely tracked our players outside the 45, so that effectively made it very difficult for us to get 2 point shots away or lined up. Conor O'Donnell had a brilliant game and was able to take on his man inside the arc and score, so I assume Kerry were not too concerned to concede those 1 pointers as a consequence of going man-to-man, with their main aim of stopping the 2 pointers.

But huge credit to the Donegal players for never giving up and clawing it back to 4 points with 12 mins remaining and we got to grips in midfield in the second half, but Kerry were still able to hoover up breaking ball on their own kick outs.

An interesting stat from the end of the game, Kerry had 24 kick outs and won 15(62%) and lost 9(37%), Donegal had 29 kick outs and won 19(65%) and lost 10(34%). Donegal player and management team will have learn so much from that final and there'll be a huge hunger to correct it in 2026."
Hold on a minute, those kickout stats show that primary possession was pretty much equal for both teams? everyone on here seems to think the reason we lost was we got destroyed in primary possession but these stats show that's not true....

I agree with you, I think the two pointer thing is the biggest reason there was such a gulf between the teams. Kerry had a gameplan to get two pointers. We seemed to have an approach where nobody should "force" a two pointer, preferring to work it in and get one pointers. We did that very well, but it showed to be a bad tactic. I looked back at the game and there's a few times when the likes of Murphy and Langan are in possession in kickable positions outside the arc and they opt to not take the shot. Meanwhile we didn't really have a strategy to defend against two pointers either, as we sat too deep.

More than Paudie being left free, and the midfield issue, I think the attitude to two pointers was the winning and losing of the game.

Thankfully we seem to be taking on more two pointers so far in the league. The likes of Mogan, McFadden, McGee well able to shoot from distance so I hope they're given licence to pull the trigger.

High_and_wide (Donegal) - Posts: 99 - 09/02/2026 15:07:04    2655681

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Replying To rorysboys:  "Why did kerry destroy us around the middle. You don't get many chances at winning all irelands si why were we so laboured.. I honestly feel jim should have added someone new to the backroom team. Kerry win and they still added donaghy.."
Couldn't compete with clubs within the county when it came to recruitment :P

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 10231 - 09/02/2026 16:50:16    2655695

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Replying To High_and_wide:  "Hold on a minute, those kickout stats show that primary possession was pretty much equal for both teams? everyone on here seems to think the reason we lost was we got destroyed in primary possession but these stats show that's not true....

I agree with you, I think the two pointer thing is the biggest reason there was such a gulf between the teams. Kerry had a gameplan to get two pointers. We seemed to have an approach where nobody should "force" a two pointer, preferring to work it in and get one pointers. We did that very well, but it showed to be a bad tactic. I looked back at the game and there's a few times when the likes of Murphy and Langan are in possession in kickable positions outside the arc and they opt to not take the shot. Meanwhile we didn't really have a strategy to defend against two pointers either, as we sat too deep.

More than Paudie being left free, and the midfield issue, I think the attitude to two pointers was the winning and losing of the game.

Thankfully we seem to be taking on more two pointers so far in the league. The likes of Mogan, McFadden, McGee well able to shoot from distance so I hope they're given licence to pull the trigger."
The biggest gulf between teams now will be between those that have physically aggressive, mobile, middle 8 and those that don't ...

LKGael (Donegal) - Posts: 238 - 10/02/2026 13:23:39    2655790

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What with the weekend fast approaching i had a quick browse on the famous mayogaa blog and there's a kerryman and a Mayo man still salivating at mayo's quarter final hammering of us thirteen years ago. Dearie dearie me. And Jimmy's system of course and not playing in the spirit of the game and other guff. It's good for a laugh I suppose.
The news about Daire's hand seems to be confirmed. I wonder who'll slot into his position on Sunday?

WeGoAgain (Donegal) - Posts: 142 - 10/02/2026 14:19:04    2655798

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Replying To WeGoAgain:  "What with the weekend fast approaching i had a quick browse on the famous mayogaa blog and there's a kerryman and a Mayo man still salivating at mayo's quarter final hammering of us thirteen years ago. Dearie dearie me. And Jimmy's system of course and not playing in the spirit of the game and other guff. It's good for a laugh I suppose.
The news about Daire's hand seems to be confirmed. I wonder who'll slot into his position on Sunday?"
Are ye still bitter over 2013? Dearie me altogether....
It's good for laugh coming on here to . Biased opinions much . Ye seem fairly confident guess it's Mcguiness for sam ..

S1234 (Mayo) - Posts: 799 - 10/02/2026 23:32:04    2655868

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Replying To S1234:  "Are ye still bitter over 2013? Dearie me altogether....
It's good for laugh coming on here to . Biased opinions much . Ye seem fairly confident guess it's Mcguiness for sam .."
Not bitter over 2013 at all. Well beaten on the day by the better team.
Luckily the sweet smell of our 2012 victory was still in the nostrils to sustain us.

I would say Sunday's game will be very competitive. I like the cut of Andy Moran's jib. He's a very postive fella who knows what it takes to compete at the very top level. Mayo will be much improved in 2026. Would fully expect them to see them in the knockout phases, where they will be a tough nut for any team to crack.

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 10231 - 11/02/2026 09:25:08    2655888

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Replying To S1234:  "Are ye still bitter over 2013? Dearie me altogether....
It's good for laugh coming on here to . Biased opinions much . Ye seem fairly confident guess it's Mcguiness for sam .."
You're still crying about 2012 Clare.

You don't come on here either by the way, you live here. It's a bit odd.

peiledoir20 (Donegal) - Posts: 1439 - 11/02/2026 10:34:31    2655899

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Replying To Lockjaw:  "Not bitter over 2013 at all. Well beaten on the day by the better team.
Luckily the sweet smell of our 2012 victory was still in the nostrils to sustain us.

I would say Sunday's game will be very competitive. I like the cut of Andy Moran's jib. He's a very postive fella who knows what it takes to compete at the very top level. Mayo will be much improved in 2026. Would fully expect them to see them in the knockout phases, where they will be a tough nut for any team to crack."
Haha we are over 2012 sure we gave ye a soft all Ireland that year !
It will be competitive but pressure is more on ye and McGuiness then on us .

S1234 (Mayo) - Posts: 799 - 11/02/2026 12:13:55    2655911

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Replying To S1234:  "Haha we are over 2012 sure we gave ye a soft all Ireland that year !
It will be competitive but pressure is more on ye and McGuiness then on us ."
Ha yeah cos ye have won so many All Irelands that yez can give them away. You're good craic.
We won the 2012 All Ireland in about ten minutes sure.

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 10231 - 11/02/2026 15:31:42    2655946

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Replying To S1234:  "Are ye still bitter over 2013? Dearie me altogether....
It's good for laugh coming on here to . Biased opinions much . Ye seem fairly confident guess it's Mcguiness for sam .."
We were still celebrating after 2012.
I think Jim has a better chance getting Sam than your crowd.

Scenicparish (Donegal) - Posts: 838 - 11/02/2026 15:41:08    2655947

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Replying To Scenicparish:  "We were still celebrating after 2012.
I think Jim has a better chance getting Sam than your crowd."
I don't deny that at all . As I said we are rebuilding the pressure is on ye not us !

S1234 (Mayo) - Posts: 799 - 11/02/2026 20:18:11    2655986

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Replying To S1234:  "I don't deny that at all . As I said we are rebuilding the pressure is on ye not us !"
What pressure? All Donegal want is 6 points to stay in Division 1 and after getting 4 points in the first 2 matches it's certainly not a must win match.

Scenicparish (Donegal) - Posts: 838 - 11/02/2026 21:11:22    2656001

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Replying To Scenicparish:  "We were still celebrating after 2012.
I think Jim has a better chance getting Sam than your crowd."
With the help of God because we all know how modest and gracious the other crowd would be to win one. Insufferable. All said it will take something special to stop Kerry come championship.

Square_B (Leitrim) - Posts: 1781 - 11/02/2026 21:52:40    2656004

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Looking forward to the Mayo game at the weekend, more so because they are the league pace setters at the minute and I was impressed at how they cut Dublin open, especially those diagonal balls in and their transition pace, also how they played against Galway.

Hopefully a few of the new faces will get a proper run out against Mayo, I expect to see some squad rotation. Part of me wonders if Shaun Patton might struggle to regain his starting place when he returns to fitness, Gavin Mulreany has been very impressive as keeper and with his kickouts. He might not have the long distance range of Patton, but he isn't bad in the short to medium range.

Commodore (Donegal) - Posts: 1605 - 12/02/2026 13:27:18    2656063

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Replying To Commodore:  "Looking forward to the Mayo game at the weekend, more so because they are the league pace setters at the minute and I was impressed at how they cut Dublin open, especially those diagonal balls in and their transition pace, also how they played against Galway.

Hopefully a few of the new faces will get a proper run out against Mayo, I expect to see some squad rotation. Part of me wonders if Shaun Patton might struggle to regain his starting place when he returns to fitness, Gavin Mulreany has been very impressive as keeper and with his kickouts. He might not have the long distance range of Patton, but he isn't bad in the short to medium range."
With O'Baoill and Thompson both out we are down two of our main 2 point kickers. Hopefully others will step up in the next few games as 2 pointers are becoming a crucial part of the game and you need a lot of options. McFadden, Mogan, McGee, Malone, and obviously Langan can all hit from distance so hopefully we won't see a dip in 2 pointers in the next few games.

Another thing is do we have a strategy to defend against opposition 2 pointers. Who will tag Ryan O'Donoghue? Maybe Roarty would be a good option for him.

High_and_wide (Donegal) - Posts: 99 - 12/02/2026 14:16:35    2656076

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Replying To Square_B:  "With the help of God because we all know how modest and gracious the other crowd would be to win one. Insufferable. All said it will take something special to stop Kerry come championship."
Mayo will win no All Ireland, sorry to say for their loyal supporters but it just isn't going to happen, they blew so many chances it's very hard to see them ever getting those type of chances again.
They will continue to be a difficult team to beat and on their day will trouble the best teams in the country but they just never seem to have that X factor needed to go on and win the big one.
I expect Sunday to be a tough game in not great conditions, I can see it being a bit of a battle, I think we will will come away with the points and secure our div 1 status but a draw wouldn't surprise me either.

Tirchonaill1 (Donegal) - Posts: 3703 - 12/02/2026 14:26:08    2656078

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