Gilroy agrees with Donegal game plan

YOU would have got some odds on Manchester United scoring as many times as the winning side in Croke Park yesterday but Pat Gilroy wasn’t about to join in the chorus of disapproval that accompanied Donegal’s less-than-popular tactics.

It had been an edgy game filled with many a potential flashpoint aside from Diarmuid Connolly’s sending-off but, when Maurice Deegan blew the final whistle, Gilroy and Jim McGuinness shared a handshake suffused with genuine warmth.

Gilroy had travelled down a similar road as his Donegal counterpart. In the winter after his first year as Dublin manager, he came to the cold and calculated conclusion that his team needed to increase their focus on the defensive at the expense of their renowned flair.