2014 Donegal county football team season

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The 2014 Donegal county football team season was the franchise's 110th season since the County Board's foundation in 1905. The team entered the season looking to improve on their poor 2013 run and return to prominence for the first time since winning Sam Maguire MMXII.

Jim McGuinness returned for his fourth season as the team's manager. Pioneer of the game's revolutionary tactic The System,[1] he entered the season with two Ulster titles (2011, 2012), and added a third this season,[2] before becoming the first manager in team history to lead his team to two All-Ireland Finals.[3][4]

League[]

Donegal won promotion from Division 2.

2014 Division 2 table
Team Pld W D L F A Diff Pts Notes
Donegal 7 5 1 1 9-97 7-67 +36 11 Advanced to final and promoted to Division 1 for 2015
Monaghan 7 5 1 1 3-107 3-78 +29 11
Meath 7 4 1 2 9-87 8-95 –5 9
Round 1
Laois1-9 – 2-19Donegal
Round 2
Galway0-12 – 1-16Donegal
Round 3
Donegal2-11 – 0-10Monaghan
Round 4
Donegal1-12 – 1-12Meath
Round 5
Down1-9 – 0-10Donegal
Round 6
Donegal1-19 – 3-7Louth
Round 7
Armagh1-8 – 2-10Donegal
Final
Monaghan1-16 – 1-10Donegal
K Hughes 1-1, P Finlay (1f), C McManus 0-3 each, P McKenna, D Hughes 0-2 each, R Beggan ('45), D Mone, D Clerkin, C McGuinness, F Kelly 0-1 each Report M Murphy 1-4 (1 pen, 3f), C McFadden 0-4 (3f), P McBrearty, O MacNiallais 0-1 each
Attendance: 38,841
Referee: David Gough (Meath)

Provincial Championship[]

Donegal won the Ulster Championship for a third time in four seasons.

Quarter-final
Derry0-11 – 1-11Donegal
M Lynch (0-04), E Bradley (0-03), B Heron (0-02), C McFaul, N Holly (0-01 each) Report L McLoone (1-01), M Murphy (0-04), K Lacey, A Thompson, C Toye, D O'Connor, P McBrearty, M McElhinney (0-01 each)
Attendance: 15,883
Referee: Joe McQuillan (Cavan)
Semi-final
Donegal3-16 – 0-12Antrim
D O'Connor, L McLoone (1-02 each), D Molloy (1-01), O MacNialais (0-04), M Murphy (0-03), C Toye, C McFadden (0-02 each) Report T McCann, B Neeson (0-03 each), M Sweeney (0-02), C Murray, P McCann, K Niblock, P Cunningham (0-01 each)
Attendance: 11,795
Referee: Barry Cassidy (Derry)
Final
Monaghan1-09 – 0-15Donegal
P Finlay (0-04), C McGuinness (1-00), R Beggan (0-02), V Corey, K Hughes, C McManus (0-01 each) Report C McFadden (0-04), P McBrearty , O MacNiallais (0-03 each), M Murphy (0-02), A Thompson, K Lacey, R McHugh (0-01 each)

All-Ireland Championship[]

Donegal reached the All-Ireland Final for the second time in three seasons.

Quarter-final B
Donegal1-12 – 1-11Armagh
M Murphy (0-05), O MacNiallais (1-01), C McFadden (0-03), P McBrearty (0-02), N McGee (0-01) Report T Kernan (0-04), A Kernan (0-02), A Mallon, A Forker, S Campbell, K Carragher, M Murray (0-01 each)
P Durcan (1-00 own goal)
Attendance: 72,440
Referee: Joe McQuillan (Cavan)
Semi-final
Donegal3-14 - 0-17Dublin
R McHugh 2-02, C McFadden 1-03 (2fs), M Murphy 0-03 (2fs), P McBrearty 0-02, K Lacey, F McGlynn, O MacNiallais, R Kavanagh 0-01 each Report D Connolly 0-05 (1f), P Flynn 0-04, B Brogan 0-03 (1f), A Brogan, P Andrews 0-02 each, P McMahon 0-01
Attendance: 81,500
Referee: Joe McQuillan (Cavan)
Main article: 2014 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final
Final
DonegalvKerry

Panel[]

No. Player Position Club
1 Paul Durcan Goalkeeper The Four Masters
2 Eamon McGee Right Corner Back Gaoth Dobhair
3 Neil McGee Full Back Gaoth Dobhair
4 Paddy McGrath Left Corner Back Ardara
5 Anthony Thompson Right Half Back Naomh Conaill
6 Karl Lacey Centre Back The Four Masters
7 Frank McGlynn Left Half Back Glenfin
8 Neil Gallagher Midfield Glenswilly
9 Odhrán Mac Niallais Midfield Gaoth Dobhair
10 Christy Toye Right Half Forward Naomh Mícheál
11 Leo McLoone Centre Forward Naomh Conaill
12 Ryan McHugh Left Half Forward Cill Chartha
13 Patrick McBrearty Right Corner Forward Cill Chartha
14 Michael Murphy (c) Full Forward Glenswilly
15 Colm McFadden Left Corner Forward Naomh Mícheál
No. Player Position Club
16 Michael Boyle Substitute
17 Darach O'Connor Substitute
18 David Walsh Substitute
19 Declan Walsh Substitute Malin
20 Dermot Molloy Substitute Naomh Conaill
21 Hugh McFadden Substitute Na Cealla Beaga
22 Leon Thompson Substitute Naomh Conaill
23 Luke Keaney Substitute The Four Masters
24 Martin McElhinney Substitute Naomh Mícheál
25 Martin O'Reilly Substitute
26 Rory Kavanagh Substitute Naomh Adhamhnáin

Squad as per Donegal vs Dublin, 2014 All-Ireland Semi Final, 31 August 2014

Management[]

Kit[]

Awards[]

All Stars[]

Donegal achieved four All Stars.

Pos. Player Team Appearances
GK Donegal colours.jpg Paul Durcan Donegal 2
RCB Colours of Kerry.svg Paul Murphy Kerry 1
FB Donegal colours.jpg Neil McGee Donegal 3
LCB Colours of Mayo.svg Keith Higgins Mayo 3
RWB Colours of Dublin.svg James McCarthy Dublin 1
CB Colours of Kerry.svg Peter Crowley Kerry 1
LWB Colours of Mayo.svg Colm Boyle Mayo 2
MD Donegal colours.jpg Neil Gallagher Donegal 2
MD Colours of Kerry.svg David Moran Kerry 1
RWF Colours of Dublin.svg Paul Flynn Dublin 4
CF Donegal colours.jpg Michael Murphy Donegal 2
LWF Colours of Dublin.svg Diarmuid Connolly Dublin 1
RCF Colours of Mayo.svgCillian O'Connor Mayo 1
FF Colours of Kerry.svg Kieran Donaghy Kerry 3
LCF Colours of Kerry.svg James O'DonoghueFOTY Kerry 2
County breakdown
  • Kerry= 5
  • Donegal= 4
  • Dublin= 3
  • Mayo= 3

References[]

  1. ^ Duggan, Keith (2 September 2014). "Neil McGee: pushing bodies on was key to Dublin upset - 'We went away to a training camp for four, five days and Jim more or less broke down their game plan and we exploited it'". The Irish Times. Irish Times Trust. p. 2. Retrieved 2 September 2014. One of the lazier stereotypes about the Donegal defensive game – generally labelled ‘the system’ – is that it somehow does the work on its own. But McGee had plenty of moments in the spotlight with Brogan on Sunday and took his turn roaming forward like the other Donegal back six.
  2. ^ "Ulster Football Final: Donegal beat Monaghan in provincial decider". BBC Sport. BBC. 20 July 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  3. ^ "GAA: Donegal record stunning six-point victory over Dublin in All-Ireland SFC semi-final". Sky Sports. BSkyB. 1 September 2014. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  4. ^ Harkin, Greg (31 August 2014). "Written off by everyone - but Donegal tear up the script". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
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