RORY GALLAGHER says Donegal have to ‘suck up’ the disappointment of a second Ulster final defeat in-a-row and ready themselves for a Qualifier in two weeks’ time.
The Tir Chonaill will face either Mayo or Cork after losing yesterday’s Ulster final to Tyrone.
The day was going almost to perfection for Donegal, who led 0-7 to 0-4 at half-time with Tyrone losing Mattie Donnelly and Cathal McShane to black cards before the changeover.
Yet, with Cavanagh, Peter Harte and Kieran McGreary striking long-range points late in the day, the Red Hands finally clasped the Anglo Celt.
“Disappointed,” sighed a downbeat Gallagher.
“We have battled hard throughout a very tough bruising Championship campaign and we played really well through periods of it but ultimately we came up short and that is very difficult.
“You have to put distance between yourself and the other top four or five teams and we just weren’t able to put enough distance.
“The attack played well in the first half but there was a wee bit of a breeze and we would have liked to have been four or five up. But you always want more. The bottom line is that Tyrone put on the pressure a wee bit more in the second half and they showed a lot of quality to hit the scores they did.”
Tyrone win Ulster final against Donegal #ulsterfinal pic.twitter.com/tN9GkCjqCE — The Irish News (@irish_news) July 17, 2016
The game hinged on some pivotal moments in the engrossing ending, not least when Cavanagh cancelled out a Christy Toye point that had put Donegal 0-11 to 0-10 ahead.
The move began when Donegal’s Frank McGlynn was denied a free at the other end.
“A two-point swing,” Gallagher noted ruefully.
“I thought it was a free we would have scored but we didn’t get it.
“We’ll have to see it on the television but I thought it was a free and I thought Kieran Gillespie should have got a free as well a lot closer to the goal.
“It is hard to know. I thought Frank maybe should have got a free but we will have to look at the footage. At the end of the day you can argue about a free either way.”
Donegal opened up a four-point lead within 13 seconds of the start of the second half when Patrick McBrearty floated over.
They were perhaps undone by their own patience, although Tyrone’s replacements had a big impact on the second period.
“Ah, I suppose they lost a few players early on, but young (Mark) Bradley came in and was sharp and Darren McCurry; we knew they would throw them into the mix.
“Niall Morgan and Peter Harte and Sean Cavanagh kicked massive scores in the second half.
“The nature of Tyrone is that they give you a lot of possession and they invite you on. We knew that coming in here. We just weren’t able to break them down as consistently in the second half.”
Each time Donegal hit the lead in that breathtaking finale, they needed the chequered flag to be in sight, but the board went up and six minutes proved too much and not enough.
Gallagher said: “We probably thought that there might be four (added minutes). We didn’t see the need for six – the black cards were in the first half.
“It is down to substitutions and it is becoming the norm….what can you say?
“You have to learn the lessons. You have to suck it up and get on. It will be a tough day or two but our boys will suck it up and they will be back.”
@TyroneGAALive pic.twitter.com/JN6t1k5tKt
— Joe McMahon (@Bigjoemc) July 17, 2016
