WATCH: ‘There were indicators that we were just not ourselves’ - says Donegal's Jim McGuinness
Donegal boss Jim McGuinness admitted his side was well off the pace in their shock Ulster SFC loss to Down in O'Donnell Park, Letterkenny on Sunday afternoon
Jim McGuinness admitted that Donegal were off the pace throughout as Down dumped the holders out of the Ulster running in Letterkenny.
A 3-21 to 1-21 scoreline at full-time in Letterkenny made for painful reading and no doubt when McGuinness and his backroom team trawl over the video analysis later this week, it will also make for difficult viewing.
But the Glenties man insisted Donegal didn’t overlook Conor Laverty’s huge underdogs. But he admits that, for whatever reason or reasons, his side just couldn’t summon the energy needed to hang with Down in O’Donnell Park.
A hard one to take," he said. "Down were full value for their victory. They were written off in every single corner of the country over the last seven or 14 days, from what I have seen anyway, but we were also aware of the fact that they kicked 3-21 last year against Galway, their last championship game.
"We should have been ready for that. We weren’t ready for that. We weren’t our normal selves."
Depending on the draw, the 2012 All-Ireland winners will now have to wait four or five weeks before their first All-Ireland opener, where they will have to travel away to one of the provincial finalists.
Pressed to put a finger on some aspects where they came up short, he explained: "There were fellas coming back in that had missed a good chunk of the league.
“That definitely played a part. We looked leggy. We couldn’t get back sometimes off the kickout.
"There were indicators there that we were not ourselves, but Down came with a plan and a lot of passion because I would say of a lot of things that were said and written. They are full value for their victory."