It was in the huddle in extra time. The words. The intent. Jim McGuinness won’t go into detail about what he said to his players.
But t worked. They found a way.
Many of the 28,788 crowd at Clones might have thought Donegal had left the Anglo Celt behind them at full-time in ordinary time.
But those long training sessions and countless team meetings cover such scenarios. McGuinness leaves nothing to chance.
In the end it was Niall O’Donnell’s point which proved the difference on a day when the game could have gone either way on so many occasions.
Armagh. Gutted again for the third Ulster Final in a row.
McGuinness, the hero once again.
“That’s where your training comes in,” said the Glenties man as he celebrated his his jubilant players.
“That is every night. It’s everything you do. It’s everything you do away from the training. All of those moments are going to come to the surface at some stage and that’s what we were talking about in our huddle at half time and extra time.
“We’ve a lot of work done, lads. You know, we’ve a lot of work done. We can’t let this slip because we’ve been so dedicated to this thing for the last number of months.’ So I’m sure Armagh were saying exactly the same thing. But these are the conversations you have to find with yourself because you have to find something.”
He was in full flow even throwing in a reference to hurling.
“For me, the Ulster Championship and the Munster Hurling Championship are just on a par. They bring so much. They ignite so much within people. It’s crazy. But at the same time, there’ll be a serious game in Croke Park tomorrow. The Connacht Final was seriously competitive.
“Listen, I think the provincials are in a good place. I think there’s a lot of people, for whatever reason, talking them down or had been talking them down. But maybe that narrative will change on the back of this season because that was a serious competition in all provinces this year. And for us, we’re just thankful. We’re delighted.”
Many may have missed a scuffle which broke out at the final whistle, an incident McGuinness says has no place in the game.
“I don’t have a perspective on that,” said McGuinness when asked. “It is not nice to see. It shouldn’t happen. I was giving my daughter a hug at the time. I didn’t see what happened, but no, it shouldn’t be in the game.”
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