Donegal pocket 'energy and belief' from a classic Jim McGuinness raid in Derry

Jim McGuinness had little trouble sleeping on Thursday and Friday night.

When he switched the lights off in his Creeslough home on Thursday night after returning from training in Convoy, the Donegal manager was contented.

A rugged winter of work laid the foundations for a solid spring that yielded Donegal's return to Division 1 with the Division 2 silverware added for a little bonus along the way.

Derry, though, was always the one on his mind.

That Mickey Harte, his old adversary from a success-laden first spell in the Donegal hot seat, was managing Derry added something of a subplot to those watching outside.

Inside, McGuinness knew well that the wily, studious Harte would be armed and dangerous having taken over a Derry side that had already shown a rapid trajectory.

And, yet, Donegal pulled it off in fine fashion. Derry 0-17 Donegal 4-11: McGuinness aced the first real test of his second term as Donegal manager.

Two goals by Daire Ó Baoill and one each by Oisin Gallen and Jamie Brennan earned Donegal a landmark win at the home of their derby rivals.

“Once you get the date, it's the only date that matters; it's the first round of the Championship and you have to prepare and plan for that,” McGuinness said.

“From the day the draw was made, we were planning for it – and it wouldn't have made a difference who it was. It's the game you're targeting.

“Once you get the last training session under the belt and you have imparted all the information that you can to them then the work is done and you just have to wait for the game to start.

“It wasn't one of those where I was thinking: 'We need to cover this, we need to cover that'.

“We are still a work in progress and that's the bottom line. We just have to take that and move on.”

Ó Baoill's goals each arrived via monster Shaun Patton kick-outs and with the Derry 'keeper Odhran Lynch straying well out of his goal. Donegal were 3-8 to 0-10 ahead when Gallen tucked home a 46^th minute penalty.

A good, old-fashioned, McGuinness-inspired ambush; it was as if Donegal's supporters had gone back in time.

By the 57^th minute, Derry came back to within four. When Gareth McKinless drilled over, there was a sense that, just maybe, the Oak Leaf hadn't quite withered.

As the air temperature dropped, the mercury rose.

Donegal were down to 14 for a period with Niall O'Donnell black-carded, but Jamie Brennan – just six minutes after his introduction – fired in the goal that quelled any remaining Derry hopes that lingered.

This time, Gavin Mulreany, not long on for the injured Patton, provided the missile.

“He has a big boot, he does have a very big boot,” McGuinness acknowledged of the St Naul's man.

“The kick-outs are almost everything in the game now. It's incredibly difficult to shut goalkeepers down and a lot of teams are looking at that. If that is the case, teams are looking for options B and C now.

“Derry done serious damage to Dublin over the top and we did damage today.

“Those are just moments in a game. Sometimes that ball drops for you and sometimes it drops for them. A lot of teams put a lot of time into trying to make them work, but they are huge in the game.

“We had an idea about what we wanted to do and we had to stick to that. We had to keep working and believing in all moments. Nothing will ever go in a straight line and we had to deal with that in those moments.”

McGuinness referenced how Donegal's attack was 'fast, sharp and aggressive'. The addition of McBrearty from the start in the weeks to come will add significantly to that line.

The Glenties man felt that Donegal's decision making 'was off a wee bit' at certain times.

Work to do, but not a lot of time to do it.

“A lot of these are very fine moments in a game – a ball you shouldn't win and you get your hands on it – that can turn a game,” he said.

An eight-day turnaround won't offer the same chance at studying for the next test, but you don't get a sense that McGuinness will have his men panicking about what might come up or what might not when they turn the page for their semi-final exam.

He said: “There is no way we are going to be able to cover it all. We must try to harness the energy from the performance as opposed to the tactical build-up to the next one. . . building blocks, building blocks and putting plans in place as best you can.”

It was, he mentioned “a big step for us”: “I hope that it helps a lot. I hope it will add to the belief.”