The Donegal manager’s unbeaten run fell at the hands of Tyrone.
Tyrone fought off a late Donegal comeback to win their opening fixture, in group one of the All-Ireland SFC 2-17 to 0-20.
It was Tyrone man, Peter Harte, who got the decisive two-pointer and condemned Donegal manager, Jim McGuinness, to his first league or championship defeat at Ballybofey.
The Red Hands boss, Malacy O’Rourke, was also the only man to beat McGuinness in six seasons in the Ulster SFC with Monaghan in 2013.
Monaghan icon, Conor McManus, doesn’t believe the Tír Chonaill men have to panic after the loss of such an impressive record. McManus also feels this was a game that was influenced thanks some of the GAA’s new rules.
The scoring changes, with points scored outside the 40-metre arc now worth two-points, played a huge part in McGuinness’ men remaining competitive in the match according to McManus.
In his column for the Irish Times, he said: “You could see the impact of this in Ballybofey on Saturday. Michael Murphy was single-handedly keeping Donegal in it against Tyrone. The pressure was incredible. If he missed opportunity, it would have had a deflating effect but – almost as expected – he delivered and kept the match going.”
While Donegal took advantage of that rule, the Monaghan legend believes that Tyrone were more effective users of the three-up rule which sees forwards now dictate games more.
Mcmanus said: “Of the Donegal starting team, only four of them scored.”
He added: “Compare that with Tyrone. Five of their starting six forwards scored. That’s a far better spread of scorers, which shows you it was more of a team performance from Tyrone.”
The former left corner-forward sees Donegal’s dramatic Ulster final victory over Armagh, as having an effect also on the game.
McManus said: “Emotionally as much as anything else, that Ulster final was such a mentally draining game.”
He added: “It looks like Armagh are going to win it, then Donegal do. It’s difficult to hit reset after that.”
