No excuses for Rory Gallagher after Monaghan defeat, but Donegal still head for semis

DESPITE A FOURTH SUCCESSIVE defeat, Donegal are heading for the Allianz Football League Division One semi-finals.

A re-match with Dublin next weekend, most likely at Croke Park – the CCCC will confirm venues and times tomorrow – is next on the agenda for a team that has managed to sneak their way into the knockout phase.

The League had started so brightly with big wins over Down and Cork – the two relegated sides – followed by a useful win over Mayo in Ballybofey.

Defeats against Kerry, Roscommon, Dublin and, now, Monaghan, have ended the regulation League season on a peculiar note: Four defeats on the spin and, yet, the prize of a return to Croke Park is on the cards.

“I said after the first three games we have not done a lot of work given the age profile of the player and, while I think that is definitely a factor, I wouldn’t say it is the only factor that we have tired in the last ten or 15 minutes,” Rory Gallagher, the Donegal manager, observed after a narrow loss to Monaghan.

In Castleblayney, Donegal led 1-4 to no score after 20 minutes, but managed to kick only two points in the second half with Colin Walshe’s late winner arriving deep into added time.

Gallagher said: “We are very disappointed after being 1-4 to no score after 20 minutes. We were very disappointed to concede a goal so soon after scoring one ourselves.

“We were still in a good position at half-time. We were three points up and playing well and and had created chances and probably should have been further in front at half time and possibly should have been five or six points up, even though we had conceded the goal.

“But we weren’t and it seemed if we ran out of steam in the second half and Monaghan’s needs were greater than ours.

“They were up for the game and in front of their own supporters and you could hear the roar going up every time they scored or turned over the possession. It was a combination of us tiring and they really wanting it.

“That is no excuse we are just disappointed that we did not produce the level of performance in the second half after what I thought was an excellent first half performance.

We were really on top early on and we had a few good scoring chances before we scored the goal. We should have six or seven points along with the goal but we didn’t and paid the price in the end.”

Donegal’s whirlwind start to the League had a semi-final berth effectively assured as they headed for the compact St Mary’s Park in ‘Blayney.

They started well here, with Martin McElhinney’s goal having them seven in front.

Monaghan hadn’t scored at that juncture, but they worked the ball straight from Rory Beggan’s kick-out to Daniel McKenna, who netted after initially being denied by Mark Anthony McGinley.

Conor McManus found his groove and as Donegal waned, Monaghan hit back. While they looked like running out of time, McManus leveled it with five minutes to go before corner-back Walshe secured Monaghan’s survival.

It was the same as last week when Donegal fell away after Michael Murphy’s sending off in the defeat to Dublin.

Gallagher said: “We felt last week against Dublin with ten minutes to go and even with three minutes to go we were still in the game. And it was the same situation today which is encouraging and gives us something to work on.

“Even though Monaghan were coming at us late on I felt we battled well until the end and it was a case that we did not put enough scores on the board when we were on top.

“Monaghan upped the anti in the second half and they won a lot breaking ball around midfield something which we had been doing in the first half.

“It is not the way we would want it to be for sure but we have to deal with that now though I would be more concerned if we weren’t doing a lot of things right.

“I think in all four games we  played some good football the only game that that has concerned me is the first 20 minutes against Roscommon.”