Diarmuid Connolly: “Donegal have weapons everywhere”

24 July 2025
Diarmuid Connolly2

Six-time All-Ireland winner Diarmuid Connolly has spoken exclusively to BOYLE Sports this week ahead of Sunday’s All-Ireland SFC final between Kerry and Donegal.

The Dublin legend discussed:

·         Jim McGuinness’s impact on Donegal

·         Why you can never write off the Kerry team

·         The strengths of the Donegal side

·         Match verdict

McGuinness magic

“Jim McGuinness has that magic, it’s hard to put your finger on exactly what it is, but that knack of having players primed for the big games. It’s a mental challenge, you have such a big squad and you have to make sure you’re getting them all right for one particular day.

“I’m sure there are guys sitting on the bench thinking they should be on that pitch, but it feels like the squad is all together, and that’s what you want from a managerial team.”

Kerry are finding their feet

“Kerry are kind of being dismissed by the media and the fans but I doubt that’s seeped into the squad. They believe and they always have believed that they’re capable of winning All-Ireland titles on going on runs of back-to-back or five titles in a row. They have that inside confidence in the squad.

“I never wrote them off, I know what they can do in a spell of play. We saw what they did against Armagh, a 16-point turnaround and that’s the sort of firepower they have. They were inconsistent in the league but they’re starting to put back-to-back performances together and that’s what you want to see, and we’re starting to see it right throughout the championship.

“Kerry come with this aura of confidence, they’ve won the most Sam Maguires of any side. It’s a little bit different now, over the last decade they’ve only won one, but down in Kerry on the ground, they’ve seen the great minor team that’s come through and the great u20s side. But they haven’t seen the fruits of that at senior level and that can be a burden. If you’re listening to that all the time, it can seep in, but I don’t think these guys have that mindset.

“Dealing with the injuries they’ve had grows confidence. If you get big injuries, it’s next man up and you have to have that belief in your squad. If you have three or four injuries and lose, it’s easy to blame those injuries, but if you start putting results together it just breeds confidence. You have lads coming back having to fight for the jersey.”

Donegal have no weak points

“Donegal’s running power from the back is absolutely awesome. If they can turn you over in their scramble defence, their back to front is like something I’ve never seen before. They’ve got speed and pace everywhere. They’ll make the run, the overlap, the real hard cut inside and get it to the guy that’s fresh, it’s a real team effort.

“We’ve been bigging up Finnbarr Roarty and Brendan McCole all year but they’re the meanest defence when they have the ball. Eoghán Bán Gallagher and Ryan McHugh maybe don’t get the plaudits the rest have this year, but their work off the ball is absolutely phenomenal.

“They probably have the best midfielder in the country in Michael Langan at the moment. I think Jim McGuinness is really going to put pressure on the kickout and you know when you win it, you’re six on six, that’s where you can pen teams in and blitz them. They have weapons everywhere, there’s not one area of their play that you could say they over rely on. They’re so strong in attack and for me, they’re probably the best team defensively too.”

Match verdict

“If Kerry could up their shots to scores percentage, they could blitz Donegal, but I just think defensively Donegal are so strong, in their transition they’re so strong, their weapons from their kickouts. They have a lot more options around midfield and there are question marks about Kerry in that part of the pitch. I just have a suspicion that this Donegal team could wrap you up for 10 minutes and really hurt you. Their running power is just phenomenal from back to front and they just seem to be able to make changes at the right times in games and swing momentum in their favour. Do Kerry have that many weapons from off the bench?

“I think where it’s going to be won and lost is that impact coming on. We’ve seen Jason McGee coming on around that 50-minute mark and just making that middle third of the pitch tick again. The advantage for Donegal is the goalkeeper, that defence, that running power and middle third. That’s where they could win the game and I think they’ll just edge it by two or three points.”

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