Declan Bonner believes it was unfair to expect his Donegal U21 team play an All-Ireland semi-final just five days after winning the Ulster title.

Bonner's highly-rated charges looked flat as they succumbed to a 0-9 to 1-13 loss to Dublin at Kingspan Breffni Park on Saturday.

"It's crazy to be quite honest," the Donegal manager complained of his side's schedule in the Irish Times. 

"We had to turn around after an Ulster final in five days and play that match. It's not fair on the players or anyone else involved and Ulster Council would need to take a good look at themselves in terms of why this was the case. There was no Plan B in place. Every other province had a two-week break before an All Ireland semi- final."

Bonner's Dublin counterpart Dessie Farrell had some sympathy for the newly-crowned Ulster champions.

"Donegal were a little flat coming into this; their schedule was hectic. They would have wanted to be super human for that not to have had an impact, and that probably came against them today.

"But look, we can only do what we can do and we are happy to be going to an All-Ireland final," he said.

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