DONEGAL MANAGER DECLAN BONNER has hit out at the “crazy” scheduling of fixtures that saw his team lose out to Dublin in the All-Ireland semi-final just five days after winning Ulster.
Bonner’s side were flat from start to finish and in the end up, well beaten this afternoon at Kingspan Breffni Park in Cavan on a 1-13 to 0-9 scoreline against the Leinster champions.
On Monday night last, Donegal overcame Derry on a 3-17 to 0-13 scoreline at the Athletic Grounds in Armagh, while Dublin were provincial champions since March 29, having beaten Offaly 2-18 to 0-9 at O’Moore Park in Portlaoise.
“You talk about player welfare so that there is a crazy situation where we have to play an Ulster final and then an All-Ireland semi-final in five days,” Bonner said this afternoon. “The other three counties had their houses in order. Ulster didn’t.
“Look but we’re not making excuses. We were late back on Monday night. We felt the preparation was right but at the back of my mind I had this fear that we might come out flat.
“For me we were always that step or two steps behind and the energy we had throughout the Ulster campaign just wasn’t there. That’s disappointing.”
Donegal took 24 minutes to get off the mark – which they did through Michael Langan’s free – and were 0-5 to 0-2 down at the break. They did rally briefly at the start of the second half, with Niall O’Donnell taking his side back to just one down but it was Dublin from then to the finish.
“At the start of the second half, we came out well but you could see the energy just drain away again,” Bonner added. “We wish Dublin all the best. They had their two or three-week break and we wish them well in the All-Ireland final.
“It was disappointing. We know we are much better than that. But just from the word off you could see there was definitely a certain amount of flatness to it. It’s disappointing because of the work that these boys have put in, both players and management.
“We just didn’t get to the levels we needed. Overall, it was just really flat and the five-day turnaround was just too tough. It was a step to far.
“It’s crazy that we had to turnaround five days after an Ulster final to play that match. It’s not fair on the players or anyone else involved. The Ulster Council would need to take a good look at themselves. There was no Plan B in place – every other province had a two-week break before the All-Ireland semi-final.”
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