Jim McGuinness: 'It was a great game for us and for Armagh as well'

As the sun began to fall, every last one of the 11,252 who made their way to the Athletic Grounds in Armagh left it content enough.

Armagh and Donegal had played out a competitive draw, 1-9 to the home team and 0-12 to the visitors, with Shane O’Donnell’s point the one that sealed the share of the spoils in the end. As February football goes, it was a very good advertisement for the second tier of the Allianz League.

Jim McGuinness, the Donegal manager, could see both sides of it, although being a Donegal man he might’ve had the slightest of leanings when he faced the media huddle outside of the dressing room. He felt it was a game that they could’ve lost but perhaps should’ve won. 

After all, in a contest of inches, he had watched his team hit the upright three times in the second half, as well as seeing Blaine Hughes save an Oisin Gallen penalty with five to play and a Ciaran Thompson shot waved wide and not over. In ways, you could see where McGuinness was coming from, although Armagh could’ve pointed to a few things themselves. 

“We were a wee bit disappointed,” he said. “The penalty is a really good goalscoring opportunity, the second one off the post, either of them in the context of the battle, it was a tough game out there. We found ourselves in a bad situation as well where we had to respond and get an equalising point as well.”

All in all though, Donegal - like Armagh - now have seven points from eight and could be seeing Kieran McGeeney’s team soon enough again. They’re also getting in as much prep as possible for their Ulster SFC quarter-final at Celtic Park against Derry on April’s third Sunday. This was as close a rehearsal as Donegal might get for that. 

“My own assessment would be that it was a great game for us and for Armagh as well,” McGuinness added. “We know a bit more about our own lads. It was a tough battle where pressure situations came to bear on both teams in different periods. Plenty of learnings in the game and at least we’re not going down the road beat.

“If we won here today we were in a very strong position to go on in the division. If Armagh won, the same, and I think that wasn’t lost on the players. There was that sense to it that there was a lot on the line and both ended up with nothing at the heel of the hunt. We’re both still in the dogfight now. We’ll have to go back and have a good look at it now, try and take the learnings and the positives.”