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-- No attempts a 2 pointers until late on, until it was too late.
-- Peadar Mogan still wasted at corner back, where is Mark Curran etc?
-- No impact from the bench when we badly needed it.
We were the better team for most of that game, but 2 pointers kept Cork in it and Cork were arguably the better side the in closing 15 minutes.
Imagine if we started Eoin McGeehin or Shea Malone and had brought Michael Murphy, Ryan McHugh etc off the bench with 15 minutes to go yesterday?
Commodore (Donegal) - Posts: 1883 - 14/06/2026 15:04:29
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Replying To Lockjaw: "Louth have just proven my point re: big ball into the mixer. This year's Championship is drunk! Lol" He was going for a two pointer but your point is still valid.
Yesterday's disappointment aside it's been a great championship thus far.
peiledoir20 (Donegal) - Posts: 1673 - 14/06/2026 15:07:04
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Replying To WeGoAgain: "He was cramping, needed to come off. Armagh's supposed depth hasn't really been tested yet to be fair so I'd reserve judgement til they meet a stronger team." Well there you go, Armagh's bench lost that game for them. No need to bring Forker on at all.
WeGoAgain (Donegal) - Posts: 207 - 14/06/2026 16:09:15
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Replying To peiledoir20: "He was going for a two pointer but your point is still valid.
Yesterday's disappointment aside it's been a great championship thus far." Ah yoiu re happy now cos Armagh beaten.Plenty of tears yesterday.
brayballer (Wicklow) - Posts: 695 - 14/06/2026 16:13:25
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Replying To peiledoir20: "He was going for a two pointer but your point is still valid.
Yesterday's disappointment aside it's been a great championship thus far." Yeah I agree with you, I think he was attempting a levelling score but got lucky.
I think full back lines are so conditioned now not to expect high balls into the square that it causes consternation the odd time it does happen. You see the damage the big Monaghan lad did to Mayo recently.
I'm not saying we start lamping balls in aimlessly, but the odd one here or there is surely worth a punt.
Are we also missing a kind of maverick option who will try the unorthodox? I know Niall O'Donnell has had his injuries and maybe wasn't content with playing time. I thought yesterday's game was crying out for a bit of ingenuity.
Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 10375 - 14/06/2026 16:35:18
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Replying To Commodore: "-- No attempts a 2 pointers until late on, until it was too late.
-- Peadar Mogan still wasted at corner back, where is Mark Curran etc?
-- No impact from the bench when we badly needed it.
We were the better team for most of that game, but 2 pointers kept Cork in it and Cork were arguably the better side the in closing 15 minutes.
Imagine if we started Eoin McGeehin or Shea Malone and had brought Michael Murphy, Ryan McHugh etc off the bench with 15 minutes to go yesterday?" I think the 2 pointers is a huge issue, can't see a team winning Sam while ignoring them until they are absolutely needed.
joeteor (Donegal) - Posts: 273 - 14/06/2026 16:35:35
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The lack of variation is a problem and has been a problem for a long time. Its not about Plan A and Plan B because a good Plan A has variation in it. So many of our problems stem from being too predictable.
When you get a championship ready, organised and disciplined defense we really struggle to get shots off from the areas we want playing the way we do. Teams know we aren't going to kick the ball in so can commit more players to minding the arc and that also hampers our ability to get shots at 2 pointers off.
I just cant understand why we cant try to build in an option to make use of the offensive mark, which is a disproportionately advantageous rule. All you have to do is have a forward make a dash towards the sideline and hit a 25m pass from the 40. If you make the catch its almost certainly a score as you get 2 chances at it.
I'm not suggesting to throw away the gameplan overall but you have to mix it up a little. The way you create mistakes in defenses is by forcing defenders to make decisions. We are so predictable that defenders are on autopilot most of the time, they dont have to think at all
benjyyy (Donegal) - Posts: 1452 - 14/06/2026 17:05:53
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Replying To totalrecall: "To say it was smash and grab is being disingenuous to Cork, they dominated game in last 15 and upped the intensity to a level that we could not match. They were deserved winners.
I didn't think we could be as poor as we were against Down, but we backed that up today. Lacked ideas and energy, hard to explain given that we have only had 2 matches in the last 9 weeks. Are the team being overtrained?? Who knows given the veil of secrecy that surrounds that surrounds the modern day paranoia of inter county teams.
As others have outlined here the reluctance to kick the ball especially with Murphy inside busting a gut every game to get Donegal over the line is hard to fathom. Again our most consistent forward and when chasing the game gets the curly finger.
Was Max Campbell injured? I think in the next game we need the pace and energy of him and caolan mccolgan in defence to drive us forward. Eoghan Ban & Ryan McHugh looked very one paced yesterday. Shane and Conor O'Donnell need to start being more direct as both have pace but are running across the field too often. McGee and McFadden were second past in the middle third too. We were second best to breaking ball too and that come down To hunger, Cork were ravenous towards the end.
We can't complain we got the home draw we wanted after the difficult trip to Killarney now we await another hopefully favourable draw next week, last year we blamed the number of games, this year we have had hardly any." I was referring to the 2024 game against them. We dominated the last 15 in that game but couldn't get ahead.
eddieSize5Balls (Donegal) - Posts: 400 - 14/06/2026 17:30:15
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Replying To inthru: "Very disappointing display all round looking to coast home in 2nd gear. When Cork made a game of it we couldn't get to the pitch of it and deservedly got beat.
The elephant in the room here is the lack of depth in the squad. If we are looking to the bench coming to the final quarter we are in huge trouble. We had to throw on Turlough Carr and Shea Malone who are in their first year and don't have the experience or conditioning at Championship level, Cork were bringing on players like Deane, Corrbett and Hurley. The Down game had a similar feel, we were asking Max Campbell to go in and change things off the bench in a hot and heavy Ulster Championship game with time slipping away when he is giving away a lot in terms of physicality and experience. These will all be good footballers for Donegal and if we are in a winning position we might get away with it, but it is a serious problem for this year if we are in a tight game coming into the last quarter.
Really missing that more experienced cohort late 20's - early 30's that we had over the last few years.
On the subs aswell then if we do not have the depth on the bench and have players who don't seem to be good off the bench (like Daire O'Baoill / McColgan) we need to rejig things with the starting team and have lads coming in that you can trust to impact the game. We have what we have at this stage, its whether Jim can come up with a combination for 18/19 players that works that will ultimately determine whether we can trouble the latter stages. Hard to see the wood for the trees this morning." Agreed 100%. Our bench is very weak but when we beat teams we should be beating everyone lauds it.
eddieSize5Balls (Donegal) - Posts: 400 - 14/06/2026 17:31:41
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Replying To brayballer: "Ah yoiu re happy now cos Armagh beaten.Plenty of tears yesterday." Why do you care what Donegal fans think of Armagh?
shaggykev (Donegal) - Posts: 475 - 14/06/2026 17:32:12
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Replying To Commodore: "-- No attempts a 2 pointers until late on, until it was too late.
-- Peadar Mogan still wasted at corner back, where is Mark Curran etc?
-- No impact from the bench when we badly needed it.
We were the better team for most of that game, but 2 pointers kept Cork in it and Cork were arguably the better side the in closing 15 minutes.
Imagine if we started Eoin McGeehin or Shea Malone and had brought Michael Murphy, Ryan McHugh etc off the bench with 15 minutes to go yesterday?" Remember the defeat to Galway in 2024 where Finnerty roasted Bán, then McColgan, and then camped in the corner when Mogan was tasked with him completely removing Mogan from the game in which he was our driving attacking force.
McGuinness couldn't figure out how to fix it that day, and in the two years since has repeated the error multiple times.
McColgan and Mogan are not defenders, and every team in the country knows that they need to carry ball into contact against McColgan as he's good for conceding two/three scoreable frees per match.
SurelyToGod (Donegal) - Posts: 528 - 14/06/2026 17:59:19
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Cork won that game yesterday with just 17 points. That's five fewer than any of the other winning teams managed over the weekend.
Since the new rules came in, across both league and championship, Donegal have only once scored less than they did yesterday - against Galway in last year's league when the handbrake was clearly on. A return of 1-13 simply isn't good enough at this level.
The wind was difficult, no doubt, but the forward play and some of the counter-attacking were anaemic to say the least. You're not going to win any big championship matches scoring just 1-13.
Compared to last year, the team looks a long way off where it was and you'd really wonder why that is. Ultimately, the players have to decide whether they want to drive on and salvage something from the season, or accept where things are and bow out the next day. Right now, my feeling is that it's probably done for the year, but hopefully they prove me wrong.
Ulsterchamps_32 (Donegal) - Posts: 1015 - 14/06/2026 18:55:24
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Replying To SurelyToGod: "Remember the defeat to Galway in 2024 where Finnerty roasted Bán, then McColgan, and then camped in the corner when Mogan was tasked with him completely removing Mogan from the game in which he was our driving attacking force.
McGuinness couldn't figure out how to fix it that day, and in the two years since has repeated the error multiple times.
McColgan and Mogan are not defenders, and every team in the country knows that they need to carry ball into contact against McColgan as he's good for conceding two/three scoreable frees per match." Here lad you should throw your CV in for the job once Jim leaves. Your knowledge is brilliant. What u10s team do you coach, if you don't mind me asking?
eddieSize5Balls (Donegal) - Posts: 400 - 14/06/2026 19:12:00
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Fair play to the Donegal minors. Given how little seems to separate many of the top minor teams, it can't have been easy to pick themselves up after the Ulster semi-final defeat to Derry. But they did exactly that and produced a very good display against a very decent Louth side.
For a spell midway through the second half, it looked like the game was really swinging Louth's way as they began to dominate midfield, with the young McDonnell particularly influential. Unlike the senior game, though, Donegal got a real impact from the bench, with Wilkinson making a real difference when he came on.
Credit to every one of them. They've shown a real never say die attitude, and it's fitting that they've been rewarded with a first-ever national minor title for Donegal.
Ulsterchamps_32 (Donegal) - Posts: 1015 - 14/06/2026 19:24:47
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Replying To Ulsterchamps_32: "Fair play to the Donegal minors. Given how little seems to separate many of the top minor teams, it can't have been easy to pick themselves up after the Ulster semi-final defeat to Derry. But they did exactly that and produced a very good display against a very decent Louth side.
For a spell midway through the second half, it looked like the game was really swinging Louth's way as they began to dominate midfield, with the young McDonnell particularly influential. Unlike the senior game, though, Donegal got a real impact from the bench, with Wilkinson making a real difference when he came on.
Credit to every one of them. They've shown a real never say die attitude, and it's fitting that they've been rewarded with a first-ever national minor title for Donegal." Here here Ulster. They showed great resilience and character to come through. That's a very good Louth side so to come through with a national title is no mean feat..... congratulations to everyone involved. Impressed with Lacey too. A very calm presence on the sideline and post match in all the interviews I've heard.
panamasam (Australia) - Posts: 2957 - 14/06/2026 20:28:27
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Disappointing result yesterday where we paid for resting on our laurels. That's 2 out of 3 championship games we've lost and unless we buck up it'll be 3 out of 4. We've lads who just aren't showing their league form which goes to show the league counts for nothing come championship. Some hard internal questions need to be asked if they're going to turn it around. The bench is also a big issue. Relying on one young lad in particular to make a difference who hasn't shown great form recently despite some decent early season promise is worrying. I'd like to see Jim mix it up so we can get some impetus but he knows best. Maybe playing games back to back will lift it.
panamasam (Australia) - Posts: 2957 - 14/06/2026 20:37:26
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Replying To eddieSize5Balls: "Here lad you should throw your CV in for the job once Jim leaves. Your knowledge is brilliant. What u10s team do you coach, if you don't mind me asking?" What do you disagree with or do you just not like Jim's failings being highlighted?
To be clear, I rate McColgan very highly as a wing-half back or as a wing forward. Similarly, I rate McGuinness highly as a coach but once things go wrong on the pitch he really struggles to make positive changes from sideline.
SurelyToGod (Donegal) - Posts: 528 - 14/06/2026 22:23:25
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