Beaten, but not broken. Donegal’s interim manager Aidan O’Rourke issued a rally cry in the aftermath of Sunday’s Ulster SFC defeat to Down in Newry.
After a turbulent 2023 campaign, Donegal will need to dust themselves off and go ahead in the forthcoming ‘Super 16s’ and they’ll be one of the fourth seeds after their five-point loss to the Mournemen.
O’Rourke, who stepped in to replace Paddy Carr last month, feels Donegal were architects of their own downfall and he rued a series of missed opportunities, especially when his side were on top in the first half.
Read more: Down vs Donegal: Player ratings from Sunday’s Ulster SFC quarter-final
“It seems a long way away at the moment. There has to be something different because what we are doing hasn’t been good enough,” stated O’Rourke.
“It wasn’t good enough today and we need to have a long, hard look at ourselves to see what is going to be effective in the game and what isn’t.
“In the first half I felt we missed opportunities to put more scores on the board. We took the foot off the gas a bit when we got the goal and that allowed them to get a foothold in the game instead of pushing on.
“In the second half, we really hurt ourselves - they scored 1-5 directly from us giving the ball away and you’ll not win any games at this level giving the ball away as much.”
“Between kicking wides and turning the ball over, we really shot ourselves in the foot.”
Donegal’s prospects weren’t helped by an early injury to Michael Langan. O’Rourke is hoping that the hamstring injury isn’t too severe as the Tír Chonaill men face three Championship games in quick succession starting next month.
“Michael (Langan) has been battling a couple of injuries this year.” added O’Rourke.
“It has been one thing after the other. He gets something fixed then something crops up.
“Hopefully it is nothing too significant, but he is fairly sore at the minute.”
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