Jim McGuinness keeps perspective and provides injury updates after Salthill setback

Jim McGuinness kept his poker face on after Donegal’s defeat in Salthill, but there was no disguising the reality of the afternoon, however, the Naomh Conaill man was more focused on game management rather than the result moving forward.  

A bruising 0-21 to 0-14 loss to Galway, it was a performance that never got going and a scoreboard that told its own story. Still, McGuinness had bigger things on his mind. 

“We had a couple of lads with niggles. We didn’t want to take too many risks with them. So, we didn’t put them into the firing line,” he said.  

“Galway got the scores on the board and it was probably a wee bit too much in the end for us to draw back.” 

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He wasn’t wrong. Shane Walsh gave a kicking exhibition, rattling up 0-11, and by the time Donegal had caught their breath, Galway were already halfway down the road.  

The wind was ferocious, and Donegal spent the first half trying — and failing — to hold back the tide. The scoreboard was bordering on cruel: 0-17 to 0-1 at the break. 

Donegal rallied in the second half, but this was a game that was long gone. Dáire Ó Baoill chipped in with two two-pointers, Ciarán Thompson and Peadar Mogan found some range, but it never looked like turning into anything other than damage limitation. 

The team sheet may have raised eyebrows beforehand, with key men like Michael Murphy, Paddy McBrearty, Michael Lanagan, Ryan McHugh, and Eoin Ban Gallagher all sitting this one out. McGuinness, though, wasn’t for second-guessing his decisions as keeping all his players rested and fit was the main priority. 

“We’re just trying to manage him (Murphy) and build him as much as we can,” he said. 

"Michael Langan's improving. He's not that far away. He's probably another couple of weeks away in terms of where he's at.

“Paddy had a wee bit of a niggle, and Eoin Ban, Ryan McHugh, a couple of the rest of them. We’re just freshening them, to be honest with you. They’ve played a lot of football, they’ve played every game in the pre-season and they’ve played every game in the league.” 

Then there was the toss. Caelan McGonagle won it, and Donegal opted to play against the wind. The thinking? Get through the first half, keep it tight, and then let the conditions do the work after the break.  

But Galway had the match put to bed long before it ever got to that stage. 

“That we could defend, I suppose,” McGuinness explained regarding McGonagle’s decision to play against the elements.  

“You’re going to have to play against it sometime anyway. We had players on the bench that we thought might make an impact and if we had the breeze in the second half, we might be able to get them into the game.” 

By the time they did, Galway were already polishing their performance. Still, McGuinness isn’t a man for dwelling on a bad day. Derry are up next, and that’s where the focus is already shifting. 

“We have a number of players returning this week into the squad, which is positive. We’ll focus on that and work with those lads over the next couple of weeks. We’ll take the positives from today. We’ll take their earnings as well.” 

They remain on six points in Division 1, still in decent shape. A bad day, but not a fatal one. McGuinness knows there are bigger battles ahead.