McBrearty: I was too laid back

Paddy McBrearty admitted he was too laid-back in his preparations for Sunday’s All-Ireland final.

The 19-year-old was substituted in the 48th minute and conceded he was too concerned with ensuring the occasion didn’t get to him.

“I don’t suffer from nerves but I’m probably too laid back. This game I was probably trying to get out of my head too much.

“I should have focused on it a wee bit more and the task at hand. I might have done better but that’s the way things go — you’re not going to have a good game every day.”

The Kilcar teenager will use his early exit as motivation going into next season but is not overly worried about it.

“Obviously it’s disappointing to be taken off in an All-Ireland final but who’s going to remember this in two months or next year?

“I don’t think anybody remembers it. If you’re taken off, you’re taken off for a reason. It’s not maybe because you’re playing badly.

“We needed a bit of strengthening up in another area of the field and it was just a case of Martin McElhinney coming on because maybe we needed extra height around the middle of the field.

“Any wee bit I can play in Donegal winning, I’m happy to do that. If that means sacrificing my own place I’m happy to do it.”

As he said at Donegal’s All-Ireland press night three weeks ago, McBrearty wants to be remembered “on walls” in 50 years’ time.

He maintains that his aspiration is to be spoken about in the same breath as Gaelic football’s greats.

“It’s been a dream of mine since I was young. Looking at Peter Canavan and what he’s done, it’s unbelievable.

“If you can be even near or associated to what Peter Canavan has done it would be great. They’re the type of boys you look up to and strive to be. I want to be remembered in the years to come.”

McBrearty admitted it was “heartbreaking” to see Adrian Cassidy at their post-match function in Dublin’s Burlington Hotel considering how much the Dungloe man gave to the county without winning an All-Ireland medal.

“I feel for the likes of Paddy [McConigley], Adrian Sweeney and Brendan Devenney and the Michael Hegartys of this world.

“You’d be delighted to see those boys go up and receive an All-Ireland medal for the stuff they did for the county.

“Seeing Adrian Sweeney in there last night, it’s heartbreaking but that’s football.

“I might never get to play in an All-Ireland final ever again. When I’m retired Donegal might win three in a row so that’s the way things go. Hopefully, that won’t be the case.”

McBrearty felt Jim McGuinness’s side were primed to win an All-Ireland title after losing to Dublin in last year’s semi-final.

It was when they beat Down in the Ulster decider and then surprised Kerry in the All-Ireland quarter-final that he knew they were still on the right track.

“I knew after the Dublin game last year that we could win it because we were so close to beating Dublin. This year, it was probably the Down game and the performance we gave that day. The whole country was taken aback a bit maybe by the attack and the offensive style we came out with that day.

“When you beat Kerry you know you’re doing well but those two games were big turning points for this Donegal team.”