MICKEY Harte admitted the “risk far outweighed the reward” as his Derry side were ruthlessly punished by Donegal – with goalkeeper Odhran Lynch left in no-man’s land for three of the Tir Chonaill’s four goals at Celtic Park on Saturday night.
It was clear Donegal had set about capitalising on the Magherafelt man’s positioning far out the field, with two booming kicks from opposite number Shaun Patton – and another from his replacement, Gavin Mulreany – led to goals in either half for Daire O Baoill, lobbing Lynch twice.
With the job all but done, Jamie Brennan was later left with the goal at his mercy after another kick-out broke in Donegal’s favour to seal a remarkable victory on enemy territory.
And Harte acknowledged that, although they were aware that the Tir Chonaill might target this area, he felt Derry were well equipped to manage that threat.
“It’s disappointing,” he said.
“We didn’t seem to be up to the speed of the game at any stage tonight, even though we still battled our way through the first half and were only a point down, and went in probably happy enough to be that.
“Donegal were definitely sharper, sharper for the second balls, sharper for the turnovers, obviously we got caught badly for the kick-out over the top... we knew it was a distinct possibility, but we felt we had enough people back there to deal with it.
“We didn’t deal with it well and it cost us very dearly. It seems strange that you wouldn’t be ready for that but we felt we were ready for it, felt we could deal with.
“You have to hand it to Donegal, they came here with a very clear mind about how they were going to play, how they were going to create opportunities for themselves to win the game and they did that.”
Asked whether Lynch’s sweeper-keeper role would be reviewed in the wake of Saturday night’s defeat, the former Tyrone boss insisted everything would have to be considered.
“You have to review everything and certainly the things that cost you, you have to review.
“It doesn’t say that it’s not the right thing to do, there are days when it will be an effective method, obviously today was one where it wasn’t.
“It’s a danger when there’s a person on the other side with a boom of a kick-out, then you’ve got to adjust your positioning and all of that. It’s a risk-reward thing and the risk far outweighed the reward for us today.
“We have to lick our sores and figure out when and where you can attempt to do that again, if at all.”