'Ulster is our number one competition, but we have to move on now' - McGuinness

Donegal manager Jim McGuinness admitted that with regards to managing the hype following his side’s Ulster win against Armagh earlier this month, he said he had no issue in preparing his players for the tight turnaround and keeping standards in the camp high. 

The Ulster champions followed up their victory over Armagh with a seven-point win against Tyrone last Saturday in MacCumhaill Park in the first round of the All-Ireland series. 

They have come a long way from losing by eight points to Brian Dooher’s side last year in the round-robin campaign, and while they are flying high at the minute, there has been much talk on whether they could keep their performance levels high after a tough Ulster campaign, but McGuinness was never in doubt. 

“There was a lot of commentary about our energy levels during the week, but there’s nothing wrong with our energy levels, we were looking forward to the game,” the Donegal manager said. “People were of the opinion that Ulster would’ve taken a lot out of us, but we felt it was just fantastic to get over the line in Ulster and we were buoyed by that. 

“I think against Tyrone, for the first time all year we played with that sense of energy and abandonment because we won Ulster, so I just didn’t understand the commentary on us. It is a joy and a privilege to be Ulster champions, and we enjoyed the celebrations after winning it, and you can only take energy from that, so it was never a negative for us. 

McGuinness is not one to reflect back, and while he acknowledges the incredible achievement in winning back the Anglo Celt Cup for the first time since 2019, he said that the team has now parked that part of the championship with their sole focus now on Cork. 

The 2012 All-Ireland winner said he sees the championship campaign structured into three phases with Ulster being phase one, or as he calls it ‘Ground Zero’, with the team now playing in phase two, which McGuinness admits places its own challenges.   

“The thing about the Ulster championship is you’re never over the line until you’re over the line, it’s really difficult,” he said. “We had a massive battle with Derry, Tyrone, and Armagh, but it’s gone now, and it sort of disintegrates and the All-Ireland series opens up. It was a different game against Tyrone, and I expect the same against Cork. 

“It’ll be a different game of football and a different game, and we have to get our heads around that and go with that. But ground zero for us will always be the Ulster championship, that’ll be our number one competition, now that it's done and we’ve achieved that goal, we have to throw ourselves into this phase of the championship. 

“There are two phases left and we’re in the first game of the second-last phase, that’s where we’re at and we just have to keep going and try to enjoy it.” 

The last time McGuinness won the Ulster championship, his side entered a straight knockout format, but now with the new structure, the Donegal manager is managing a guarantee of three matches to reach the quarter-final. 

And while he admits a lot of things have changed since he was last involved, the route of taking it one game at a time still remains the same. He knows the dangers of looking to far ahead of himself. 

“I think a lot of things are different now. With the quick turnaround, we have to go away now and before we go to bed, we have to look at Cork after a tough match with Tyrone, that’s the reality. The laptop will be opened, we’ll be having conversations about Cork and getting our heads around them,” McGuinness said. 

“My experience of sport is when you got one eye somewhere else, you usually get punched in the other eye. We’re looking forward to another big game and hopefully we can show what we want to show this weekend.” 

Donegal’s victory last Saturday over Tyrone was acknowledged as perhaps the county’s most all-round performance this year in their 0-12 to 0-14 point win in Ballybofey. But how pressurising was it knowing that Tyrone came here last season and won, and how much did that play into his side’s mindset? 

“We were just focused on ourselves. Ninety-five percent of the things we spoke about for the Tyrone game was about ourselves and the group and where we’re at. I think playing with a bit of freedom was the most important thing for us and I was delighted to see them doing that, but doing that again will be the challenge the next day too. 

“Derry was probably much more pressurised because we were playing the Division 1 champions, and we were away from home in the first round of the Ulster championship and if we lost, we were out.  

“This match against Tyrone was a very different game and was less stressful for everyone and a lot less heavy. That’s the mental thing about football, the dynamics change all the time. 

“One moment you’re in a really difficult situation and the next moment you’re free and you can go. It’ll be the same this weekend when Cork will be asking questions of us. The Cork game might not be as free-flowing but that’s what we’ll have to deal with.”