McGuinness’s Donegal bid to reach final frontier

Preview: Donegal v Tipperary

The Ulster outfit have lost 11 of their last 14 such ties and are desperate to correct that slide in this evening’s U21 clash with Munster champions Tipperary, according to manager Jimmy McGuinness.

He said: “An Ulster title was great to win, but we’ve an even bigger assignment now. I was so proud of the boys after the Ulster final but it’s over and we’ve not let it get to our heads.

“We always take each game on it’s own merit and that should be even more the case with the fact this is an All-Ireland semi-final. It’s a great opportunity, though.”

For Donegal, the Ulster win was one to cherish. The county had been without a provincial U21 title since 1995 and this year the competition up north looked particularly intense, as Derry, Tyrone and Armagh collected the last three All-Ireland minor titles.

But instead it was Donegal who emerged with honours.

The spotlight has primarily been trained on the senior star Michael Murphy but his scoring sidekick Dermot Malone and the dynamic Leo McLoone have played important roles. McLoone has been hampered with a quad muscle injury but McGuinness remains hopeful of his availability.

“We gave Leo as much physio as possible this week as we want him back as close to 100% as possible. I wouldn’t say that he’s a doubt, but we decided not to run the risk of him pulling up. He carried the injury through both the Ulster semi-final and final, which is hard to believe, considering how well he played.”

Donegal have overcome serious geographical hurdles just to train their teams. The squad’s training regime has taken place in three batches. McGuinness supervises the Dublin-based students sessions at DCU while Anthony Thompson, centre-back on this year’s GMIT Sigerson Cup team, has been in charge of the preparations of the students in the west. The remainder of the squad, who are clustered around Donegal, have trained with the senior boss John Joe Doherty and his panel.

“Anthony is doing a great job for me, as at U21 level the logistics can be difficult,” McGuinness commented. “All going well we can all get together the night before the game, probably in Dublin, and we can look into a little further analysis on Tipperary and will have a good talk about how we are going to approach this game.”

McGuinness is wary of the opponents who stand in their way of reaching a final, where they seek to emulate the classes of 1982 and 1987 who carried Donegal to All-Ireland glory. Donegal and Tipperary’s history of football collisions is brief, with the most recent championship meeting coming in the 2003 All-Ireland SFC qualifiers in Croke Park. But regardless of Tipp’s record down through the years, McGuinness is preaching respect for the Premier County.

“Tipperary will not be easy,” says McGuinness. “They’ve been in four Munster U21 championship finals in succession and three minors, so there’s a form guide there and you have to respect that. They’re physically strong up the middle and pacy around the wings. The Ulster title was great to win but we will have to lift it as much as another 20% to get the better of Tipperary.”