Cassidy backs McGuinness over post-match comments

05/08/2011 - 22:05:19
Donegal's extra-time hero Kevin Cassidy has backed Jim McGuinness over his post-match comments in the aftermath of their heart-stopping one-point victory over Kildare last weekend. McGuinness hit out at quotes attributed to Kildare selector Niall Carew, which appeared in some national newspapers highlighting what Carew perceived as Donegal's tendency to commit 'professional fouls'. Carew was particularly critical of the Donegal half-back line, an area which Cassidy played in last Saturday night. "It's all going to come down to the interpretation of the referee. If he lets Donegal continue with the cynical fouling of the opposition half-back line in particular, then yes, they will be hard to break down," insisted Carew. Cassidy, who struck the match-winning point, says that Carew's views put unnecessary pressure on match referee David Coldrick. "When you hear these type of things they are not nice," he said. "They put awful pressure on the referee. In my own opinion there is enough pressure on referees already when they are out in Croke Park and everybody looking at them with a big game taking place. There is a lot at stake. "The way we do it is to go out and play football and leave everything out on the field. "When we heard about what was said, it's not nice. We didn't talk about it much as players (before the game). Jimmy was probably thinking about it alright, but we didn't change our game-plan because of it. "We just went out and played the way we normally had throughout the year and that is the way to do it." Looking at Donegal's potential semi-final opponents, Cassidy says there is not much between Tyrone, whom they beat in the Ulster Championship, and Leinster champions Dublin. The pair meet at Croke Park tomorrow night. "It is very hard to say with two teams that are extremely good," explained the defender. "We played against Tyrone (in the Ulster Championship) and maybe they weren't that good on that day. "But I saw some of their game the last day against Roscommon in person and the rest on TV and they were very, very good at Croke Park. When Tyrone get to Croke Park they are dangerous. "If you look through the year, Dublin are the best team up to this point in 2011 in my opinion, their forwards are unbelievable." However, Cassidy insists that it matters little to Donegal who comes through this weekend's encounter. He reckons that both teams will provide equally stiff opposition. "We don't mind who we play, we are just glad that we are there and we have to look closely at ourselves and ensure that we are ready for the game." Club Championship action takes hold in Donegal this weekend, but after that it is full steam ahead for McGuinness's charges as they prepare for the county's first All-Ireland semi-final in eight years. "We will have a month, while the winners on Saturday will have three weeks to the semi-final. We will have a lot of work to do," added Cassidy. "There are club Championship games in Donegal this weekend, so we will be back training hard next week. "You're happy to be at this stage and playing football at this time of the year, so we don't mind about the three weeks. We know that we have a lot of work to do."