MCGUINNESS INSISTS DONEGAL MUST NOT DWELL ON A BAD DAY

JIM McGuinness offered no excuses and conceded his side were simply beaten by the better team as Donegal became the latest Ulster county to fall short against Kerry in 2025.

- By PADDY TIERNEY

The Kingdom lost their final group game to Meath before recording facile wins over Cavan, Armagh and Tyrone en-route to yesterday's final in Croke Park.

Joe O'Connor's emphatic finish past Shaun Patton gave Kerry a 10-point winning margin, with Donegal chasing the game from the moment Dylan Geaney raised the opening white flag with barely 10 seconds played.

McGuinness lamented some poor decision-making and rued losing Ciaran Thompson and Ryan McHugh to injury, but the Donegal manager was magnanimous in defeat as he paid tribute to the new All-Ireland champions.

When asked what went wrong for his side, he replied: "It's a bit early for all of that I suppose and a wee bit raw.

"We didn't perform, Kerry did perform, that's the bottom line. We started very early in the game and they got a foothold in the game.