Is Donegal's lack of goals a concern?

There’s an old GAA truism that says “goals win games”. But what if they don’t? What if you can take that well-worn wisdom, toss it out the window, and still come out on top? Enter Donegal.  

Jim McGuinness’s side has been tearing through the Allianz League this season, averaging 21 points a game from three games, outscoring almost everyone in the country, and yet, they’ve barely rattled a net.   

It’s the kind of statistic that should set alarm bells ringing, but the Donegal senior team isn’t losing sleep over it yet.  

Let’s look a little deeper.  

From the three National League games that each team has played in the top division, Donegal takes second place with 0-64 scored, however, although they’re second, they have the most scores.  

Kerry takes the honour in first position with 69 points in total to their name but with seven goals coming along the way, finishing round three with 7-48.  

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Let’s track back a little further. Out of the eight teams currently sitting in Division 1 at the minute, Donegal ended the 2024 season with 12-275 between league and championship – the second-highest scoring tally with Dublin taking the top spot with 27-271.  

Once again, the goals prove the difference. In fact, Donegal finished in seventh position in terms of goals scored, five in the league and seven in the championship from 16 games.   

Only Tyrone scored fewer goals with eight, but with three fewer games, but the Red Hand County were also ranked second last in terms of highest scoring tally, only racking up 8-193 last season, with Kevin McStay’s side taking the wooden spoon position with 14-133.  

While McGuinness’s side can celebrate the fact they’ve accumulated 375 points since February last season, is having not scored a goal since their All-Ireland quarter-final match against Louth last season an issue.  

Former Donegal player Brendan Devenney sees it only as a positive.  

“I suppose when you look at our last few performances, especially against Armagh the last day, you can see that, compared to other sides, we have a full team of match winners,” Devenney says.   

“Donegal have plenty of players that can step up and take a score, and that’s on top of a player that racks up a massive tally every week like a Patrick McBrearty or Oisín Gallen.”  

So, what’s going on? Is this a weakness, a missing piece in the Donegal puzzle? Or is it something more deliberate — something tactical?  

McGuinness has never been a manager who does things by accident. Every pass, every move, every blade of grass covered by his players is part of a grander design. If Donegal aren’t scoring goals, it’s probably because they don’t need to.  

“I think we have to look a little deeper on why Donegal aren’t scoring goals,” Devenney explains. “It’s simply down to how we run the ball. We come from deep, we come on the loop. We’re not a team that kicks the ball into the full-forward that much either.”  

That running game has long been a Donegal trademark, with players like Ryan McHugh and Peadar Mogan driving from deep, slicing through defensive lines, and keeping opposition backs guessing. It creates movement, it creates space, and — crucially — it creates high-percentage scoring opportunities.  

“I feel that we only go for goals if there’s less cover in the opposition’s backline and we catch them on the counter-attack,” Devenney says. “Otherwise, it’s better to play to the percentages and go for a simple kick over the bar rather than trying to break down different defences.  

“The chance to go for a point has been on countless times for Donegal this season, whereas, apart from Ciaran Moore’s goal chance against Kerry and Patrick McBrearty’s against Armagh, I can’t think of any other real opportunities for a goal.  

“Goals are obviously exciting and they’re a plus, but it’s not affecting the team because they’re pulling off roughly 20 points a game, which is always going to be enough to win a match.”  

In other words, goals are nice, but points are practical. And at this rate Donegal are stacking them up.  

There’s also the small matter of the new two-point scoring rule, a wrinkle in the modern game that has changed the maths of goalscoring. For the St Eunan’s man, the introduction of the two-point rule has only diluted the importance of the goal.  

“If you look at it, a goal was always three times as much as a point, that’s why teams wanted and needed goals,” Devenney told Donegal Live.   

“You don’t have that anymore. If you wanted to play to the percentages, it’s far better to get your long-range kickers on the ball and shoot for two points rather than break down defensive walls and score a goal for three points.”  

And Donegal have the shooters. Oisín Gallen, Patrick McBrearty, Ciarán Thompson — players who can pull the trigger from outside the arc and make those two-pointers count.  

“I think what is a massive plus for Donegal is the fact they’re not scoring goals, yet they have the second-highest scoring tally this season. Add a few two-point scores on that and it shows we’re probably the most dangerous attacking team at the moment,” Devenney adds.  

Of course, the traditionalists will still argue that Donegal need goals if they want to challenge for major honours later in the year. Devenney acknowledges that the GAA itself might need to take another look at how goals are valued in the modern game.  

“I don’t even think four points was enough to increase the goal tally in matches, they should’ve probably put it up to five points at least,” he says. “I don’t think five points is crazy because the one thing it would do is create more goal chances and I believe that would make the game much more entertaining.”  

For now, Donegal’s attack is working just fine the way it is. Against Kerry, they showed they can hit from deep. Against Armagh, they carved through the defence with ease, rattling off 10 unanswered points at one stage.  

“I think we’re architects in great attacking play without getting goals, which is great from a Donegal point of view,” Devenney says. “But for the FRC, it’s probably something that they have to look at.”  

Maybe goals win games. But if Donegal keep this up, they might just prove that points win them too.