McGuinness happy to see Donegal spread the scores

Donegal manager Jim McGuinness was pleased with the way the points were spread around as his side battled past Louth and into the All-Ireland SFC semi-finals.

McGuinness’ men ran out 1-23 to 0-18 winners at Croke Park thanks to a powerful second-half performance that saw Donegal outscore the Wee County by 1-12 to 0-10.

Up next for Donegal is a semi-final showdown with Galway in two weeks, after the Tribesmen stunned defending champions Dublin on Saturday.

For now however, McGuinness is happy to reflect on a job well done against a Louth side that he believes are on the up.

“We’re happy we’re in the next round I suppose,” was his immediate reaction when speaking to RTÉ’s Sunday Sport.

“Louth asked a lot of questions of us, scored 18 points against us so there’s areas there that we want to work on, but overall, we’re happy.

“We’ve managed to keep the scoreboard ticking over for basically the whole way through the game. They tightened it up a couple of times, but Louth are a good side and on the right trajectory.

“They’ve done a really good job and they know Croke Park as well. They’ve played more Championship matches here than us and pushed the Dubs close a couple of times.

“So all of that was sort of factored in. As long as we got over the line, we were going to be happy and thankfully we did.”

The most impressive part of Donegal’s performance was the variety of scorers.

McGuinness teams are more renowned for their defensive prowess than the attacking side of the game, so it gave the manager particular joy to see 11 of his players get their names on the scoresheet.

He said: “I suppose we’re fortunate that we have a number of fellas that can put the ball over the bar, so that spread of scorers is there, and that facilitated us keeping the scoreboard ticking over.

“If you have a couple of key players, it doesn’t take long for opposition teams to shut them down now. That’s the way the modern game is, you know, there’s man markers and they’re tasked with those jobs.

“That’s the way it sort of panned out today. Thankfully everybody more or less got in on the act today. It’s really important that other people can step up and keep the scoreboard ticking over.”

For Louth boss Ger Brennan, defeat was bittersweet.

The Wee County have outperformed expectations this season and while he admitted that it’s a blow to exit at the quarter-final stage, Brennan is proud of the progress his side have made this term.

This season, Louth made their way to the Leinster final and secured a place in the All-Ireland quarter-final for the first time in their history, with a stunning victory over Cork.

Now Brennan wants to take time to reflect on all his side have achieved before getting back down to work and preparing for the new campaign.

“I’m hugely proud of the players and the work that they’ve put in to represent their country with pride,” he said.

“You just have to acknowledge it, I think they’ve inspired a whole generation. Some of the scenes after the games against Meath and Cork were incredible and scenes that hadn’t been seen by a lot of people. That in itself is part of the bigger picture.

“The group of players themselves have had a great journey. I think five or six years ago, they got relegated to Division 4 by Leitrim. A lot of those players were playing in that particular game. And now look at them now, with a bit of hard work, with the structure.

“You have to credit the clubs, the work they put in, obviously the previous management team as well.”

Brennan confirmed that he will be staying with Louth next season. He explained: “We shook hands on two years with a view of a third-year extension and I’ve really enjoyed my time with the county board.

“Credit to them; to initially Peter Fitzpatrick and obviously Sean McClean has come in then as chairman as well and the executives are great to work with.”

When asked definitively if he was staying on, Brennan replied: “Oh yeah, geez, yeah!”