Late McGurk Cup final loss 'a bitter blow' for Mickey McCann

“We were robbed" was the visceral reaction of the ultra-competitive Mickey McCann as he tried to come to terms with Derry’s grand larceny as they won by 1-14 to 0-16 thanks to a last-gasp Christy McNaughton goal.

It was a cruel way to lose a game which Donegal so thoroughly deserved to win, and in such heartbreaking circumstances.

Sport can be cruel, but there is no doubt that McCann will be having a few words with his defence about the number, or indeed lack of numbers, that were on the goal-line which made Christy McNaughton’s chances much better.

But there is a deeper concern than manning the goal line, and that is the recurring theme of Donegal dominating for long periods and then being overhauled by Derry at the death.

That will surely be mulled over ahead of next week’s tough away opener against a Tyrone side who always battle to the death.

“We were the better team, but we just don’t put teams away.

“We should have been hitting 22 plus points, and we only scored six points in the second half, and that is just not good enough.

“We had one straight in front of the posts when we were three up, and we had a chance to go five up, but we did not do it, and we kept them in touching distance.”

McCann added: “Gerry Gilmore had a great game, and you look at Donal Farrelly on Shea Cassidy, who is one of the top forwards in Ulster, and he kept him to a few scores.

“I thought our defence was very good and especially our full back line.

“It was a great run out for next week, but it would have been nice to beat Derry, something we still haven’t managed to do.

“It was a smash-and-grab act for them.”

Turning to Tyrone, he said Donegal don’t mind being brought to Carrickmore as it is a very good pitch.

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“Tyrone will be a real dog-fight and you saw it in Convoy.

“Tyrone work very hard in numbers and get loads of bodies back.

“If you get a lead on them, you have a chance.

“Teams are talking about teams being in transition, well so are we.

“We don’t have Sean McVeigh, Christopher McDermott, Jack O’Loughlin, Steven McBride, Ruairi Campbell, Ronan McDermott, Josh Cronolly McGee, and Danny Cullen and Declan Coulter are back but have not featured yet.”

 “I am a bad loser, and that last shot was a bitter blow, and you take confidence from victories.

“And if we are in a similar position in a few weeks' time, they must line the goals.

“But more so, we need scoreboard pressure. When you go three up and have momentum, make it five.

“We talk a lot about it, and we need to work at it and make it happen.”