DISAPPOINTED Donegal boss Mickey McCann was quite direct and emphatic when he described Donegal’s display as “as bad a performance as we have had in my tenure”.
A strangely lethargic Tír Chonaill side showed none of their customary fire as they surrendered tamely to a vastly superior Wicklow outfit on Sunday.
They have already achieved their objective of staying in Division 2B and were withou Danny Cullen, Declan Coulter, Stephen Gillespie and Bernard Lafferty were big absentees.
But McCann was still slightly at a loss to explain how his men were so unusually tepid.
“It was very disappointing," he said.
“I know we were down a lot of bodies, but you expect the boys who are taking their places to go in and step up.
“But the body language from the first five minutes was not good and we were really well off the pace, and it is so disappointing as that is not us at all.
“We will have to lick our wounds and move on to next week where we have Tyrone coming and we lost two more men to injury today in Conor Gartland and Gavin Browne.
“They will be struggling to make next week.
“We are getting a hard time with injuries, but we will have to get over next week and prepare for the Nicky Rackard Cup.”
He added: “This was not the real Donegal out there today as we held Meath for 50-55 minutes, but we were not in it from the start, and they looked to be a grade or two above us.
“We will have to suck it up and it is just not good enough and it is not what Donegal hurlers are all about.
“Supporters came to see a good game today, but it did not happen and that is very disappointing, but we will just have to look at the video on Tuesday night and back to reality for the boys”.
“I thought our full-back line were very good and they were under a lot of pressure and Jack O’Loughlin and Ruairi Campbell also did well.
“Apart from that everybody else were well below par.
“When two thirds of your team is off the boil you are only going to get one result and that’s a beating”.
He continued: “Wicklow are back to full strength and that Bray intermediate team beat the Kilkenny champions in the Leinster final, so they have loads of quality.
“They are in the Nickey Rackard Cup as well, so we are going to have to up it a gear if we are to get anything out of it”.
When asked if there was anything in the run up that might suggest a slump he said:
“No, we knew we were missing a few key men but in the warm- up Gavin Browne and Conor Garland were struggling and had to be replaced.
“That was a further blow and those who came on did not play at that level before and it will take them time to get up to that standard.
“But we will have to draw a line under it”.
When it is suggested that Donegal can claim a semi-final spot if they beat Tyrone, McCann questioned just “how important the semi-final really is”.
Donegal are already safe for another season in Division 2B.
“You only have a one week break into the Nickey Rackard Cup and with the injuries we have we will be taking no risks.
“2B is our level and we are happy to be in it and while a semi-final would be nice, the main thing is staying here.
“We are a bit off 2A so we won’t be pushing too hard there and it is about getting the bodies right and we will field a team as strong as possible against Tyrone, but anybody that is struggling won’t be risked next week."
