Lacey positive there is more in Donegal’s tank

TODAY Ulster, tomorrow the world.

Well, an All-Ireland, anyway.

Not content with claiming the Anglo-Celt Cup for the first time, Donegal’s Karl Lacey has turned his attentions to a tilt at Sam Maguire itself, just as the last bunch of Donegal footballers to claim the Ulster title did so successfully in 1992.

Lacey’s impatience to land the big one is understandable given past disappointments that have ranged from defeats in provincial finals to last June’s nadir when Armagh had a nine-point buffer in Crossmaglen. So, where did it all go right?

“It’s hard to pinpoint what it is,” said Lacey. “Jim McGuinness got the job last August, September time and he got us together straight away,” he said. “He knew what boys needed to be doing, what boys needed to be in the gym, what boys needed to do extra running.

“Jim has huge belief in us and this isn’t the end of things for Jim. He has huge plans for us. He wants to see us take a step further and the next step is the All-Ireland.”

McGuinness was made bide his time before being handed the big job in Donegal — but seasons of failure, allied to his U21 team’s trot through to an All-Ireland final last year, turned candidacy into appointment. Should he go on to emulate Brian McEniff in two months he would also echo the achievements of men like Joe Kernan (2002) and Mickey Harte (2003), who became All-Ireland-winning managers at the first attempt.

“He’s made a huge difference,” said Lacey. “It’s been more or less the same group of players, barring one or two. There’s been great players who’ve been through Donegal who haven’t got an Ulster medal. Maybe the right managers weren’t in at the right time or whatever. He has done huge work with us and that hard work showed.”

Like a number of his colleagues, Lacey knew what it was like to watch the opposition’s captain accept the cup from the Ulster Council president of the day, whereas only Enda Muldoon could say the same on the Derry side prior to Sunday. And that helped.

“I was saying to the boys that when I woke up [on Sunday] there was a whole different feeling. You just knew this was our day and we weren’t going to let it slip. We knew it all week in training ourselves.

“Words will never describe that feeling when the final whistle went. Michael Murphy came over and just embraced me, the two of us were just rolling around on the ground. It was something special and it’s worth the six-, seven-year wait.”

Some of those on hand in Clones at the weekend compared the celebrations to 1999, when Armagh ended a 16-year gap between title victories. Lacey spoke of his ambition to “dominate Ulster the way they did” and defend their title, but it all takes a secondary importance as attention turns to Croke Park. Their recent fortunes there will need to change as Donegal haven’t won a championship game at HQ since 2003, when Galway were defeated.

Armagh evicted them from the debate in the next round, since when the county has lost two quarter-finals to Cork, by a point in 2006 and by 14 points three years later.

What price a hat-trick of meetings with the Rebels in the weeks to come?

“We’re not thinking about that yet,” said Lacey. “All focus was on Ulster and we’ll re-evaluate this week again. Jim has the belief we can go the whole way and we have the players to do it. He has a five-year plan for us. This is only his first year.”