Doherty's Donegal reign ends
John Joe Doherty has become the second senior football manager to step down following defeat in the opening round of the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers.
John O'Mahony bowed out with Mayo on Saturday night, and Doherty tendered his resignation to the Donegal County Board this morning after two seasons at the helm.
Donegal endured a humiliating Championship exit in Crossmaglen yesterday afternoon, suffering a 2-14 to 0-11 loss at the hands of Armagh.
Disappointingly, the Tir Chonaill men failed to win a single Ulster Championship match during Doherty's tenure.
The former defender, who was part of Donegal's 1992 All-Ireland winning side, was appointed to the managerial role in November 2008, succeeding Brian McIver.
In his first season in charge, Donegal showed some promise in the All-Ireland qualifiers - beating Carlow, Clare, Derry and Galway - but they were no match for Cork in a one-sided All-Ireland quarter-final.
Doherty's second year started brightly as Donegal retained the Dr McKenna Cup and beat Westmeath, Laois, Tipperary and Meath in National League Division 2.
However, they suffered a heavy final day defeat to Armagh - 2-16 to 0-6 - and despite the best efforts of Paul Durcan, Neil Gallagher, Dermot Molloy and Michael Murphy, they fell at the Ulster Championship's first hurdle, losing 1-15 to 2-10 to Down after extra-time.
The back-to-back Dr McKenna Cup title wins were probably the highlights of Doherty's shortlived reign.
