'I think they will firmly believe that an All-Ireland is on the cards' - McGinley

Former Tyrone player and three-time All-Ireland winner Enda McGinley believes that Donegal now have a massive opportunity to get back to an All-Ireland final for the first time since 2014 following their eight-point win over Louth last Sunday in Croke Park.  

With the Ulster champions set to face Galway in the last four in two-weeks time, they are now in a position that many in the county would have only dreamed about last year as their incredible display game after game continues following an impressive showing against Louth.  

With Donegal having 11 different scorers, posting 1-21 from open play and registering only three wides. It was as convincing a victory as the scoreline indicates.  

And with the favourites Dublin now gone from the championship, McGinley believes that the championship is now wide open for anyone to win.  

“All these teams in the last four of the All-Ireland series will fancy their chances,” he said. “Donegal no doubt will fancy their chance to take down Galway who have also come through so much and have taken down Dublin on Saturday, so their confidence will be sky high too, so it’s all to play for.  

“Donegal got the job done against Louth. They were exceptionally organised as you would expect. Louth has caused a lot of teams real difficulty this season including Dublin and they are a sticky team to put away and yet, Donegal still looked comfortable.  

“They bossed the game, it looked like it was going to be a 10-point victory which is not an easy thing to do. They had a decent shape to their forward line, and were they at their best? No, I was quite surprised to see how many of them were really out on their feet at the end, so they put in a huge effort that way.”  

The shock regarding how the fortunes of the county have turned around so quickly since McGuinness’s return as manager is no doubt a mutual one, but there is also an element of surprise regarding the fact that Donegal are now in a position where they are capable of winning an All-Ireland.  

McGinley adds that even some of the players may have thought at the start of the year that an All-Ireland in McGuinness’s first year back would have been too far of a step, but now it’s a position they find themselves in.  

“From what they have done and where they have come from this year, I don’t know if they all fully believed that an All-Ireland was on, I say Jim was trying to get them to believe that, but now Dublin is out of the way, I think they will firmly believe that,” McGinley said.  

“I don’t think they will fear Galway at all, so they have a chance to get to an All-Ireland final, and for that Donegal squad, imagine telling them last November that they can be in an All-Ireland final, that is amazing.  

“I wouldn’t have believed it. Even Jim McGuinness probably believes that they are a year ahead of schedule too, but he knows they have a massive chance now and those chances don’t always fall your way, so if he has a fit squad and a team he believes they can beat, which I think he can, then he’ll be making hay.”