Derry manager Paddy Tally rues loss of key defensive duo in Donegal defeat
Defiant Derry boss Paddy Tally wasn't looking for excuses as Derry slipped to a fourth Division One defeat in five league games against to leave the Oak Leafers facing an uphill task to stay in Division One next season.
Just like the fixtures against Kerry and Galway, Sunday was a game Derry could easily have won before injuries to Brendan Rogers and Eoin McEvoy, plus the withdrawal of Padraig McGrogan, handed Donegal an initiative they took full advantage of to leave Jim McGuinness' men primed for a league final spot.
Derry's fate will be decided at the opposite end of the table after another promising display which promised more than it ultimately delivered.
"I think in the Kerry game we were in more control than today," admitted the Derry manager after the 1-22 to 1-19 defeat, "I always felt that game was going to depend on midfield. When we were on top in the middle we seemed to be going well but when Donegal got a grip of the midfield towards the end, especially on break ball, we struggled.
"The (Donegal) goal swung the game, we were in a good spot up to that. Even when Donegal were coming up and getting a score, we were going back up the field and working a score too so it looked as if we were going to be okay.
"The goal, well momentum swung towards them and then, as I said, they started to get ascendency around midfield and we couldn't get our hands on the ball."
Tally admitted the untimely second half injuries to both Rogers and McEvoy had forced a defensive reshuffle that just pushed the door ajar for a Donegal team searching for a way back into the game.
"Well Brendan and Eoin were two lads that were playing really well and we had to take both of them off and they're two very experienced players," he added, "It meant then we had to reshuffle the defence again and put in a couple of players.
"Now, you can't really do without players like that, especially coming down the home straight in a big match like that. Brendan was having a really good game on Oisín Gallen, and Eoin was doing okay on Daire O Baoill too so it's just disappointing that we lost them. I'd like to have seen how the game would have panned out with them on the pitch but it didn't work out that way and we’re not looking for excuses.”