Having being widely informed that Donegal don't lose finals having only being in 2 until today did they bottle it? Being within a kick or two of a team having played woefully after conceding an early goal and another from a mistake everything would point to Donegals lack of mental strength and that in fact they bottled it.Hopefully they will be back.

peile (Mayo) - Posts: 180 - 21/09/2014 17:54:43    1654559

Now now peile a Mayo person shouldn't really be accusing others of bottling big games. No I wouldn't say Donegal bottled it, the Dublin match showed they have plenty of fight and mental strength. This result didn't really surprise me, I wondered would Donegal lift themselves to the same psychological level as they did against Dublin and today showed they didn't. They just looked off from the start and that happens in sport. Maybe in their own minds they thought that beating Dublin was THE big one for them and today they just looked flat and when it mattered they couldn't raise themselves at all. The best team won today.

Ulsterman (Antrim) - Posts: 9696 - 21/09/2014 18:14:22    1654576

Same as yourselves last year we played our final in the semi... we were so flat and not at ourselves for the final today.

HandballRef (Donegal) - Posts: 520 - 21/09/2014 18:31:54    1654602

Agree with UM 100% here. A ridiculous thread for a Mayoman to start.

Better team won today. Childish digs before the lads have left grounds speaks volumes.

A

Aido69 (Dublin) - Posts: 381 - 21/09/2014 18:38:09    1654609

Donegal didn't Bottle it. but maybe the Dublin game took more out of them physically and mentally, than most of us thought.

They looked a bit heavy legged and not up to the heights of the semi, that is for sure.

Fionn (Dublin) - Posts: 3723 - 21/09/2014 18:45:23    1654622

A mayo man and a thread about bottle lmao

OhtobeARossie (Roscommon) - Posts: 1762 - 21/09/2014 18:47:32    1654626

Donegal didn't bottle it. Donegal have very average players who by shere luck got a manager with a system that has thrown so many a team. Let's be honest they had the worst players to ever win a all ire. But they did it by been totally focussed on the system , kerry today played donegal at their own game and even if they only played it at 40 percent the better footballers would win through. It makes me laugh looking at our pages when someone says meath should copy the style and fools saying that it would have to be trained from u14 up , well eamonn fitz did it in 3 weeks. So that puts that one to bed. Donegal didn't bottle it , they just got found out. So much for the mighty ulster.

foreverroyal (Meath) - Posts: 349 - 21/09/2014 18:59:44    1654646

'Bottling-it' is a phrase that should be confined to the bin. They were one inch from equalising at the end. Had that ball went in, we would be talking about their amazing 'mental strength' and possibly how Kerry were the 'bottlers'. However, the ball hit the post instead of the net and now some people are saying they are mentally weak.

bennybunny (Cork) - Posts: 3917 - 21/09/2014 19:03:51    1654650

no...still an all Ireland there,we one finally push needed...if Mayo/Dublin there today they would have one but thats irrelevant, Donegal for Sam 2015

grellans89 (Galway) - Posts: 257 - 21/09/2014 19:08:28    1654655

My thoughts are with the mystery punter who lumped €121k on Donegal.
Any word on him?

OffalyBigBall (Offaly) - Posts: 625 - 21/09/2014 19:15:23    1654671

OhtobeARossie
County: Roscommon
Like a Rossie talking about sheep!

Miler (Mayo) - Posts: 1015 - 21/09/2014 19:20:17    1654678

Well as a Mayo man I suppose you would be an expert on the topic

Ronan1989 (Donegal) - Posts: 81 - 21/09/2014 19:23:07    1654684

Good man peile!

I guess if anyone was going to have such a thought after that final it would be a Mayo man

Strange observation

Ban (Westmeath) - Posts: 1415 - 21/09/2014 19:25:41    1654686

They should have won that game today. No doubt about but they left an All-Ireland behind them today.

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13704 - 21/09/2014 19:30:55    1654700

Bennybunny excellent post, the margins are fine, that said donegal will put this down as the one they let go, they are a better team than the one they showed today and they know it.

brendtheredhand (Tyrone) - Posts: 10897 - 21/09/2014 19:38:42    1654716

Peile .........in fairness you walked yourself into this!!

Miler (Mayo) - Posts: 1015 - 21/09/2014 19:39:14    1654718

Mayhole always find positives out of nearly winning nothing milet

OhtobeARossie (Roscommon) - Posts: 1762 - 21/09/2014 19:40:47    1654722

Dry Ur eyes mate miler another one thrown away
Never going to happen

OhtobeARossie (Roscommon) - Posts: 1762 - 21/09/2014 19:44:17    1654730

Dry Ur eyes mate miler another one thrown away
Never going to happen

OhtobeARossie (Roscommon) - Posts: 1762 - 21/09/2014 19:44:17    1654731

Not sure you need to go down this road to explain the result of this game. In any game there can only be one winner and just because it's the outsider of the two you can't claim the favourite bottled it.

In any game that Donegal have ever won under McGuinness, they have always been the aggressor in a tactical sense. Today the Kerry gameplan was on top from the start. Michael Murphy was stifled, Kerry kept two spare men in their defence the whole time, the focus on Donaghy allowed Geaney to shine and the constant in your face tactics from Kerry probably unnerved Donegal. They certainly pushed the rules to the limit, something you'd typically associate with Donegal. Neil Gallagher didn't get forward as much either especially as he was looking to get back and compete with Donaghy on the off chance the long ball came in. Another thing was the Donegal kickouts. Durcan was under pressure from the start and the mistake was probably a result of the pressure Kerry were putting him under.

So I felt Kerry's gameplan worked and they didn't have to go looking to alter it at all whereas McGuinness needed to get Murphy more into the game and needed to find a way round the Kerry blanket. They couldn't get any kind of dominance in midfield and finally McFadden was left on way too long. They've been carrying him all year and should have been the first forward taken off. Not only 1 of 2 to survive to the end.

Former_Poster (Meath) - Posts: 394 - 21/09/2014 19:48:22    1654735