Today was all about getting going again – McGrath

By Frank Craig
PRO

Paddy McGrath and Donegal are back to winning ways and that – at the weekend at least – was all the Ardara man was concerning himself about.

Donegal struggled to lift matters against Longford with the Ulster SFC elimination hangover still lingering. Whether it was a lack of organisation, appetite or enthusiasm it was hard to really gauge. The Qualifier path can be a funny one. There was a sizable enough attendance in Ballybofey but it was a muted sort of atmosphere.

As Ray Sweeney alluded to last week and Damien Diver backed up elsewhere in this addition, it will take Donegal a little time to find their fire again. It’s probably the exact same for supporters.

With Monday’s draw firing out an away clash with Meath in Navan, McGrath and his teammates will know things will need to improve this week if their summer is to be prolonged.

McGrath said: “It is good to have got through that game. It wasn’t an easy game. We were a point down at half-time, which was obviously a reflection of how we had played in the first half. We missed a lot in the first-half.

“It was always going to be a sticky game.  You could never take your eye off the ball. Longford had nothing to lose coming up here to our home patch. So from that point of view, it wasn’t going to be easy. They gave it their all but thankfully we got through.”

The corner back admits that Donegal found it difficult to get their heads around their provincial exit and the manner in which Tyrone dumped them out of the Anglo Celt running.”

It is a good game to get over because it was a big game for us especially after a heavy defeat sometimes,” he added. “That can play on boys’ minds. It is good to get a win under the belt. It is good for the younger fellas too. They are getting good experience of championship football.”

The message at the break from Rory Gallagher was not to panic. Donegal weren’t taking their chances and McGrath says the boss felt that a little more composure in front of the posts would make a big difference. In truth, Longford were even more careless than Donegal.

But the hosts’ extra quality –and the fact that Longford went down to 14 – tipped the balance back their direction.

McGrath explained: “We weren’t doing a whole lot wrong in the first half if a few of the chances we had went over the bar it might have been a different story.

“I think one of the lads said we had 10 wide. On another day that would have been halved and you would be looking at the game kinda differently. We had to keep doing what we were doing and we didn’t panic, which was good. We know the boys would score a few scores and all we had to do was hold tight at the back.

“It still took us a while in the second half to settle. I think the boys that came on did well. Martin McElhinney came on around midfield and won a few kickouts and won a few high balls.

“Karl Lacey came on and few other lads and they lifted the whole performance. That is what you need. There is depth in the team and these boys can come off the bench and get us over the line.

“I’ve been blessed not to have played in too many Qualifiers. It is new territory for us alright so we had to adopt fairly quickly. It is going to be every week now so we are going to have to get the bodies right for that.

You can take your eye off the ball and get caught so handy and so many teams have done that in the past. We need to be focused in on whatever comes our way on Monday morning.”