Basic Errors And Decision-making Cost Donegal - Mcguinness

Jim McGuinness said he had "no qualms" astir Donegal's All-Ireland conclusion by Kerry arsenic he admitted his squad made excessively galore "basic errors" against a ascendant opponent.

Billed arsenic a coin-flip decider betwixt nan 2 champion teams around, Kerry proved acold excessively beardown for nan back-to-back Ulster champions and ran retired comfortable 1-26 to 0-19 winners.

Kerry showed ferocious intent from nan outset and led by 7 points astatine nan break, pinch McGuinness admitting his players struggled to lucifer nan Munster side's early intensity.

"Early doors successful nan crippled some teams were going astatine it connected nan scoreboard but Kerry were really laying down markers early successful nan crippled and dominated agelong parts of nan game," McGuinness told BBC Sport NI.

"We sewage it backmost astatine definite times to situations wherever you felt we had a spot of momentum, but yet we couldn't get to that 2 aliases 3 points (gap) wherever nan crippled could really go interesting.

"Hats disconnected to Kerry, we're very disappointed for our players and for our supporters. It's a reliable 1 to take."

Going into nan game, Kerry forwards David Clifford and Seanie O'Shea led nan two-point scoring charts pinch 11 apiece and their meticulous shots from extracurricular of nan arc again proved cardinal for Jack O'Connor's side.

Clifford raised 3 orangish flags from play - including 1 pinch nan past footwear of nan first half - while O'Shea scored a two-point free successful nan 2nd half.

"They decidedly seemed to spell aft nan twos coming but David Clifford is an exceptional player," added McGuinness.

"We had a batch of activity done connected David and really we could adjacent him down but nan reality is immoderate of nan twos he kicked coming were exceptional.

"We person nary qualms. Sometimes successful life, you person to return your medicine and this is 1 of those times."

McGuinness was besides uninterested successful putting his side's capacity down to nan effect of a gruelling play which saw them play 11 title games successful 16 weeks.

Instead, he insisted that his team's mistakes and uncharacteristic decision-making paved nan measurement for a Kerry victory.

"We had 2 weeks to travel into nan game," he said.

"We'd been capable to bring them down [after nan semi-final] and were capable to bring them backmost up. They were fresh. We cognize from our ain metrics erstwhile they're caller and they were fresh, they were fresh to play nan game.

"The crippled was very intensive early connected and we struggled pinch elements of that and that costs america astatine times.

"But look, we made excessively galore mistakes, excessively galore basal errors and made decisions that we usually ne'er make truthful these are each nan things we've to spell distant and bespeak upon for different day."

Finally, McGuinness expressed disappointment successful nan deficiency of scorers passim nan Donegal squad connected nan day.

They had 12 different scorers successful nan semi-final triumph complete Meath, but only six against nan Kingdom pinch Michael Murphy hitting 0-8. While Kerry had 7 different scorers, they had a extremity and a bid of two-pointers.

"Michael is Michael and he will transportation that attraction [from opponents] and he's carried that attraction each passim his career.

"That's why it's truthful important to person your 10, 11 aliases 12 scorers. That's why it's truthful important to person that dispersed of scorers because immoderate time for illustration that tin hap and popular up and it didn't hap for america today.

"But they've fixed it their absolute each from nan opening of nan year. They're a very, very bully group to activity with. Very dedicated, very focused connected what they want to do.

"Today's not a bully time for america and it's not a bully time successful position of what we wanted to achieve."