Donegal U-17 manager Gary Duffy said he is proud of the effort and commitment that his side put into their match with Monaghan but admitted he is disappointed with the outcome.
Donegal were three points ahead at the break and looked to be the better of the two sides at the beginning of the second half. But, to their credit, Monaghan rallied in the final quarter to progress to the next round.
“They gave it their all. We tried to put it right and we weren’t far off the mark today. It’s disappointing so it is, there is a pool of talent there,” Duffy said after the game.
Donegal weren’t at full strength for the clash and Duffy admitted that this is something that wasn’t ideal for the squad, but refused to hold it accountable for the loss.
“It took a lot of legs out there we lost Senan Rooney and Stephen McFadden to concussion and if they had have been available it could’ve been different but that’s not making excuses, Monaghan were the better team.”
Duffy went on to admit that despite a nervy opening five minutes, they played themselves nicely into the game, but just weren’t able to keep up that pace for the sixty minutes.
“It was a good position surely at half time. We just didn’t get that same effort in the second half with tired legs and what not. We made a couple of quick points and stopped there and that was the disappointing thing.”
Duffy stated that he was proud of the effort his team put in and said they showed real character to respond in the manner they did after the loss to Tyrone a few weeks back.
“I can’t fault them, they gave it a good effort and they just came short. We were still in front with three minutes to go but it was always going to be a struggle, we tried to move one or two things round because our legs just ran out,” he admitted.
Looking forward Duffy is unsure of what the future holds for himself, but he did say that he would take the next few weeks to think about it.
“That’s something I’ll have to consider, I’ll just take a few weeks away now to clear the head,” he concluded.
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