One Step From Heaven

Just one more obstacle remains for the Messiah’s men on September 23rd and after yesterday’s fantastic display you couldn’t bet against this Donegal team clearing it.

Despite the excellent form of the team in this year’s championship, when they have done absolutely everything asked of them and more, they still came into this game as underdogs. That didn’t bother the team one bit and indeed the potential favourites tag in the final wont either.

Almost every media preview in the lead up to the game sided with the Munster champions and so the team had to once again remind everyone just how good they are.

It was helter skelter stuff to begin with, scores coming at both ends and a good pace to the game. Both sides moved the ball well and the accuracy from the teams ensured a high scoring opening period.

Michael Murphy and Colm McFadden were both targeted with long ball early on and while there wasn’t a high number of scores coming off this ploy, it only has to work once for the net to bulge. While that didn’t happen the support runners coming through were able to pick off points with the likes of Karl Lacey and David Walsh profiting.

Lacey was again magnificent and even showed his singing skills by giving us a quick blast of Jimmy’s Winning Matches during his on-field interview after the game. What was noticeable in that interview was how remarkably fresh Lacey looked; after playing the type of running game he does it would be more natural for someone to be struggling to stand. Yet he trotted of the pitch after that interview the same way he trotted on at the start of the match and it gives us another insight into the fitness levels attained by this panel of players.

Mark McHugh had a quiet opening to the game but once he started to get on the ball he dictated the game as only he can. So much of the pre-match build up had focused on what Cork would try to do to nullify him but for the last 50 minutes of the game he swept and carried as he has done all year and no-one could get near him.

As has happened in every outing this year the effort and energy expended by the opposition in trying to attack Donegal early on meant that when the blue touch paper was lit in the second half there was only one winner. The key ingredient in the winning of all Donegal’s matches this year has been the period after half time when the team raises their intensity and pummel their opponents with devastating raids and a relentless scoring rate.

Cork’s players and their manager admitted afterwards that they lost the tactical battle but in truth Jim is always a step ahead of his rivals in that regard. Cork’s trump card centred on starting wing forward Ciaran Sheehan instead of corner back Ray Carey resulting in them playing with five defenders and seven attackers, although Fintan Goold dropped back to the half back line at times. It worked to a point in that Sheehan himself did well and got on the score sheet but overall their shape and setup didn’t bother Donegal.

In much the same way that Donegal play, it doesn’t matter who attacks or who defends so long as someone does; it didn’t matter that Cork had an extra attacker because he was simply another man that had to be stopped, had to be tackled and had to be dispossessed regardless of the number on his back or what position he plays.

Neil Gallagher gave an exhibition in old-fashioned midfield play, making several clean catches and outplaying the much vaunted ‘big men’ of Cork. Throughout the week, the physicality and size of the Cork side was viewed by many as a key advantage that would lead them to victory yet Big Neil set the tone in the middle of the field and was deservedly given the man of the match award. Alan Quirke was eventually forced to look for short kickouts such was the dominance of the Glenswilly man.

The high fielding midfielder is one facet of the game that pundits lament about not seeing very often in these days of modern football but there was plenty of it illustrated yesterday.
Another of the modern ills is of course the hand pass and Donegal are the prime target from the purists in this regard. At one stage in the first half yesterday the RTE website commentary displayed a statistic showing that Cork had hand passed the ball 100 times compared to Donegal’s 30; by the end of the game Cork out-hand passed us by 250 to 170.

Almost all teams play in a similar way nowadays, the difference is that Jim McGuinness has taken the style that brought Tyrone three All-Ireland titles and almost perfected it - how perfect it is can only be judged in four weeks time.

Now the chance is there for his team to claim their title and he immediately got the player’s heads focused by saying that the next four weeks will be the most enjoyable of their lives. Jim is always thinking of what’s coming next and even in the aftermath and the euphoria of the win he was getting down to business.

For the supporters, before the ticket scramble begins in earnest, it’ll be satisfying being able to sit back and enjoy this Sunday’s second semi final waiting to see who’s next up to try and stop the Donegal juggernaut.





After the terrific day we had yesterday it was all put in perspective with the tragic news about Termon GAA player Andrew Duffy, who lost his life after falling into the Grand Canal in Phibsboro after attending the game at Croker. Thoughts and prayers go out to his family.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

Thy Kingdom Come Undone Against Dún na nGall

Yet another milestone for this Donegal team was reached at Croke Park yesterday, beating the aristocrats of the Kingdom with a performance illustrating all of our good traits - pace, power, intensity and Kerry couldn’t live with it. In the aftermath of the league game between the teams earlier in the year, Jim McGuinness said that when the sides met again Donegal wouldn’t afford Kerry the same respect - he knew their paths would cross once more and yesterday was very different to the pedestrian Donegal side that played in Killarney.

Despite doing our best to throw the game away and putting the supporters through the ringer, Donegal were by far the better side and thoroughly deserving of a semi final spot.

Two of the game’s eminent forwards lined up as opposing captains for the toss as Michael Murphy and Colm Cooper went through the pre-match formalities. Its little moments like this that make you realise how far we‘ve come; this is where Michael and his team-mates belong, on the biggest stage on the biggest days ready to go into battle.

Both epitomised their class early on hitting wonderful long range scores despite being under pressure from defenders throwing themselves at their shots. Plenty of people had spoken in the build up that Michael was due a big game and he delivered one. He made a complete nuisance of himself challenging Aidan O’Mahony and Brendan Kealy for the early goal and scored some crucial frees to stretch our lead in the second half.

Colm McFadden was outstanding yesterday. He’s what people often term as a confidence player and once his first effort sailed between the posts you just knew he was going to have a good day. He was out in front of Marc O’Se throughout, his handling and control was excellent and that trusty left peg scored 1-5.

A lot of Kerry’s big players didn’t perform to the level they can, the O’Sullivans of Declan and Darran in particular. Paul Galvin had a quiet first half but was far more influential after the change of ends. Galvin has re-defined the role of a half forward in recent years since he burst on the scene in 2004 - the role is being transformed again in the shape of Mark McHugh. His fitness and work rate have been well documented but it just defies belief at times. His positional sense and reading of the game allows him to pick up so much loose ball and start so many of Donegal’s attacks. The role is so unique that its near impossible to counter it; teams could push up his direct marker and do a man marking job on him but that would be unusual to a see an extra defender being given so much attention. McHugh was nominated for last year’s Young Player of the Year award and if he keeps going in this vein of form he may well be in the shake up for the senior gong later in the year.

Karl Lacey was back to his magnificent best yesterday after a relatively quiet championship campaign so far by his own high standards. This time last year in the quarter final against Kildare, he produced one of the best displays ever seen at Jones Road. Many had expected him to be given a specific man-marking job on Colm Cooper but Lacey instead picked up Declan O’Sullivan and gave his customary tour de force running display, dragging his marker up the field with him. O’Sullivan was taken off with half an hour remaining; the ultimate compliment for a defender is seeing the forward he’s marking being taken off.

It was noticeable in the league game in Killarney that most of the Donegal team, and Lacey in particular, looked a bit heavy-legged presumably due to the ferocity of the team’s training around that time.
It has stood them in good stead though as players were still breaking forward at the end of the contest yesterday. It was no surprise to see Lacey getting up to take Rory Kavangh’s pass to seal victory with the insurance point - you wouldn’t want anyone else in that position. Even when Marty Duffy blew the final whistle it was Lacey who was in possession, ready to gallop out of defence again.

Neil McGee meanwhile was assigned to mark Cooper and had a fine game on the Kerry sharp-shooter, giving away just two scores from play and using his physicality to good effect, imposing himself on the Gooch. McGee had a great game against Cork’s Donncha O’Connor in the league clash in Ballybofey in March and the duo are likely to lock horns again in three weeks time.

This game was billed as a clash of styles, of modern football versus traditional values and Kerry couldn’t cope with The McGuinness system. Donegal have so many options that teams don’t seem to have enough of their own to counter the challenges that Jim presents. What other team would have their centre back bombing forward to score the insurance point while their team is defending a one point lead in the last minute?

The stars from last year like Lacey, Murphy and McGee have been joined by the likes of Frank McGlynn, Leo McLoone and Ryan Bradley who are all taking more responsibility and have improved their own individual games. McLoone especially had a good day yesterday, scoring a second half point to add to great work-rate and economy throughout the field.

So we’re back to where we were last year, facing into a semi final but crucially a year wiser and a year more experienced. Cork will provide another huge test and they’re one of the few teams who can match us for physicality and power. It promises to be a fascinating contest, no doubt Jim and Rory are getting their plans together already.

Back to Back Joy for Tir Chonaill

History was achieved in the most emphatic fashion imaginable in Clones yesterday – Donegal obliterated Down in the closing stages to put the gloss on back to back Ulster titles.

The game followed a pattern which we’ve become accustomed to now with this side – let the opposition run themselves into the ground, let them tire themselves out and when the time is right go in for the kill.

Down found some joy running at us in the first half and opened us up for a couple of half goal chances. The Mourne men are a classy outfit with ball in hand and showed their skill and verve with some dashing raids down the barrel of the gun. The thing with playing against ultra-fit Donegal though is that it is nigh on impossible to keep that kind of play going. We appear to be quite comfortable in letting teams have a go in the first half and then turn the screw in the second with our superior fitness and power. The Tyrone game worked out like that, as did the games in the league against Mayo and Armagh.

Donegal appear to be able to up the ante and move through the gears whenever they feel like it. With Down on a good run coming up to half time the lads collectively just seemed to decide that we needed some scores and in six devastating minutes we registered 1-3. Declan Walsh’s two points were crucial as a decent lead for the underdogs would have given them plenty of confidence for the second half. Instead the Malin man burst forward for two coolly taken points.

Allied to running directly at Donegal, many believe that the way to beat the system is to kick long range scores – this is a common myth amongst teams and press alike but no one has actually done it yet. Tyrone in last year’s semi-final had chances but kicked a lot of wides in the first half, just as they did this year. Derry had chances in the first half of last year’s Ulster decider, as had Down yesterday, but again kicked some wayward wides – all a coincidence? No.

Kicking from distance is a good ploy and the scores registered can be a huge boost to the crowd and to a team’s confidence but such is the difficulty in the technique it will not win a game and certainly not against this Donegal team. The pressure that forwards are put under is so intense that when a player finally finds himself in a couple of yards of space he will invariably rush his shot and hence his technique lets him down. The only big game this team has lost was last year’s All Ireland semi and that was primarily due to Dublin running hard at the defence as the Tir Chonaill legs started to feel the strain. Long ball is another option against us but again few teams have tried this, although Tyrone did create a few chances when long ball went into Stephen O’Neill in the semi final a few weeks back.

Ryan Bradley had another stormer yesterday, epitomised by his wonderful point just before his withdrawal, due to concussion, in the second half. Rising highest to claim a Down kick-out, he took the ball on himself and hoisted a huge score to the delight of the crowd.

Bradley, along with Paul Durcan, Colm McFadden and goalscorer Frank McGlynn, are in All Star form at the minute and regardless of what happens for the rest of the summer, Donegal will no doubt be represented again when the team of the year is announced in November.

With Neil Gallagher missing yesterday we could have expected to see Michael Murphy stationed at midfield but he spent most of his afternoon at full forward. The psychological hold that Jim McGuinness has over his opponents is such a huge weapon right now. Down had Dan Gordon looking after Michael with Brendan McArdle close by to double-team him. Yet doing that just leaves more space for the other forwards, perfectly demonstrated by Leo McLoone’s goal when he was completely unmarked. Teams come up with plans to hold Donegal but Jim will have something else to counteract that and give them something further to worry about.

Teams are spending so much time in trying to figure out how to beat us, their own successful traits aren’t being seen. Darren O’Hagan, Aidan Carr and Conor Laverty for example have all been in great form in 2012 (particularly the latter in the league encounter in Newry in February) yet there is such an emphasis on stopping Donegal that their talents weren’t seen to the full yesterday.

Oisin McConville, in his role as BBC pundit after the Tyrone game, waxed lyrical about Paddy McBrearty’s effect on the game and in particular his ability to always take the right option – the Kilcar youngster illustrated this again yesterday. Whether in near goal or out the field, every time the ball came his way he seemed to have that extra half second and used it to decide the best option whether it be shooting, kick passing or hand passing. Even in the space of a year his game has come on so much and training and playing alongside the Murphy maestro has brought his game to a new level.

One of the most satisfying aspects of last year’s win over Derry was the fact that we were able to truly savour the occasion such was our lead going into the final few minutes. The same happened again yesterday with the final ten minutes turning into a procession and yet at no stage did the players take their foot off the pedal; they kept tracking back, working hard to win possession and took their scores with real aplomb.

One slight worry going into the All Ireland series is our tendency to depend on our second half displays to finish a team off – what if it doesn’t happen for us some day? This can all be tracked back to last year’s joust with Dublin where we wilted in the Sky Blue onslaught, scoring just two points after the break. McGuinness has obviously put a major emphasis and focus on ensuring that that doesn’t happen again. In 2011 we tried to hold onto leads whereas this year we’re simply staying in the game early on before pulverising teams. We scored an incredible 1-13 in the second half yesterday; 2-16 in the last 40 minutes compared to 0-2 in the opening 30 minutes.

Of course this gameplan will be more severely tested when Donegal meet one of the big hitters in Croke Park but we’re certainly primed for an assault on Sam and next Monday we’ll find out who’s next to feel the full force of The Messiah’s men.

Dún na nGall March On...

A statement of intent was delivered to the rest of the country at Clones yesterday; Donegal are now firmly amongst the All Ireland contenders and in beating a Tyrone team without hitting top gear the team illustrated the assurance and maturity that they’re operating off.

A large green and gold contingent made their way to Clones yesterday and it was clear that there was a level of supreme confidence amongst the fans around the town. All the pundits had tipped us to win and while there was no way that the game was going to be as straight forward as some had predicted, we knew our form pointed to victory.

The game panned out in a very similar manner to last year’s encounter; Tyrone did most of the running early on with Donegal happy to let them tire themselves out, safe in the knowledge that there was plenty more in the tank. While the goal chances at the end of the game caused many a heart palpitation around St Tiernach’s Park, Donegal always just seemed destined to come out on top and looked the better side.

A definite pattern has emerged in many of Donegal’s championship games this year and last - the opening exchanges usually involve opponents running at us full of intent and belief that they can defeat the system. Inevitably our strength and know-how wears them down and when we hit our purple patch we can put teams away.  Tyrone didn’t score for over half an hour in the second half yesterday while we scored five points in the same period. Donegal are so patient and controlled that they have an inner belief that the scores will come - that belief probably wasn’t there in last year’s All-Ireland semi final but you get the feeling if the situation presents itself again the team would be able to push on that bit more rather than waiting for the finishing line to come to them.

Tyrone set the tone for a tactical chess game with their formation at throw in, Mickey Harte had a very clearly defined plan as to how to beat Donegal and they were close to pulling it off. Harte is the game’s eminent tactician, the only manager who can compete with him was the man in the other dugout. The game’s premier coaches went head to head and it was Donegal’s familiarity and know how of their own system coupled with their fitness and power that won the day.

The amount was of switches at throw-in was mind-boggling and indeed hard to decipher exactly what was going on; it took quite a while for the game to settle down into any kind of pattern. Both teams favoured short kickouts rather than risking losing possession by delivering into midfield which was somewhat strange from a Donegal point of view considering the form that Neil Gallagher is in at present.

His midfield partner, Ryan Bradley, had another terrific game yesterday and is playing like an All Star in the making if he keeps going. He is a prime example of the McGuinness effect having been a bit part player under previous bosses but thanks to the tutelage and guidance of Jim he has been transformed into an immense athlete of pace and power to go with the footballing talent that’s always been there.

Losing Neil McGee early on was a blow and indeed some of the goal chances Tyrone created through high balls in his absence was worrying. On one occasion Neil’s brother Eamonn was one on one with Stephen O’Neill, a situation you generally don’t see with this Donegal team - thankfully after he won the ball O'Neill's effort clipped the post.

Karl Lacey had another fine game, not allowing Peter Harte to dictate things too much while carrying a huge amount of ball for his side. He popped over one of his customary points near the end too and a fit and on-form Lacey is imperative for an All-Ireland challenge.

The chance of Ulster glory comes before that of course and Down stand in the way on July 22nd. They’re an exciting outfit with some top class forward talent but its hard to see how they will cope with the sheer size and speed of Donegal. Back to back titles would be an amazing achievement for this team and it’s a very real possibility. Three weeks time will tell all.

Demolition Derby sends Derry packing

Nothing beats being there - thats the current tagline the GAA are using to market this year's Championship and its hard to argue with it. Especially when your approx 2,400 km away from the ground. That was the reality for those of us taking up our posts as part of Trappa's army in Polska; we're missing out on our regular GAA hit but thanks to a combination of Highland Radio, phone calls to pitchside and Twitter, Donegal Gaels could keep abreast of proceedings at Ballybofey yesterday.

There are certainly quite a few of us in Poland, without doubt there are more Donegal jerseys here than any other county. I'm currently residing in the tourist town of Torun, which is half way between the match venues of Poznan and Gdansk.

Torun unfortunately does not have an Irish bar and therefore for the first time in many years it was Charlie Collins' job to guide me through a Championship game. The big news delivered by Charlie before throw in was that the maestro had overcome his knee injury and was fit to captain the side; while Michael Murphy wasnt at his mesmeric best just getting him on the field and into Championship action was hugely important.

Ryan Bradley took the place of injury victim Rory Kavanagh at midfield and by the gushing praise coming from co-commentator Declan Bonner, the Buncrana man had a fine game. He deserves great credit for that after enduring a disappointing day in Breffni Park last time out when he was replaced early on.

Mark McHugh once again played his specifically defined role to a tee and he is developing into a Lacey-esque type figure who never ever seems to play poorly; its an insight into how Donegal are coached and how each player knows their role.

Derry tried to get bodies back behind the ball but there's more to playing a good defensive system than that. Jim and Rory work relentlessly on 'the system' in training and nothing is left to chance - other teams cannot just copy it and hope to have success.

The goals either side of the break closed out the game and it is hugely encouraging that Donegal were so clinical and professional. We've certainly moved on to another level after last year, and indeed Derry have stood still under John Brennan. The more games this team plays the more at ease they feel with the style of play and the better they are utilising their intensity and energy. The system requires incredible fitness but the players appear to be managing their bursts better now and they know when to take a breather and when to foray up the field.

Another plus from yesterday's game was the spread of the scorers; we can always rely on Murphy and Colm McFadden and it wouldnt be a Donegal win without at least one member of the half back line scoring. But both midfielders scoring as well lads like Leo McLoone and David Walsh getting on the scoresheet is a big postitive.

And so we're as we were last year, facing into a pivotal semi final dual with Tyrone but unlike then we will probably go into the game in two weeks time as slight favourites. We were a little bit in awe of Tyrone twelve months ago and early on it looked as if we were going to be steamrolled. Eventually we found our feet and ground out a win with Brick Molloy's late goal.

This year it will be up to Mickey Harte's men to take the game to us, we're the champions and the challenge for them is to knock us off our perch. To score 2-13 today is very pleasing, and you can be sure Tyrone will not be notching 0-19 in the semi-final like they did against Armagh last week.

Poland will be a distant memory by the time that rolls around in and the Donegal jerseys will have departed Torun, Gdansk and Poznan and will instead converge on Clones.
Come on you boys in green...and gold!

Dún na nGall Clear First Hurdle

A case of job done in Breffni today - an accomplished, professional display from Jim McGuinness’ charges in a game we never looked like losing. Cavan came out of the blocks quickly but it was inevitable that Donegal’s pace, power and strength would be too much for them and by half time the contest was finished.
Even without the difference in fitness and physical levels, Donegal simply had the better footballers.

This time last year, RTE infamously struggled to pick a man of the match from the preliminary round clash with Antrim such was the poor fare on show; today it was difficult to pick one standout such was the high quality of performances from several men in green and gold.

Frank McGlynn played at half-back today following a reshuffle before throw in which saw Declan Walsh make his Championship debut at corner back and Leo McLoone getting a run in the forwards - and all three impressed. McGlynn was outstanding, hoovering up plenty ball and playing high up the field.

Leo picked up where he left off in the league, bringing the promising form he showed then into his new half forward role today. He poses a formidable obstacle to a defender carrying the ball forward but along with his strength he has great footballing ability, illustrated by two fine scores from play.

Leo was pushed further forward alongside Colm McFadden in the second half and he again excelled while also proving to be a nuisance to Cavan goalkeeper James Reilly when he attempted any quick restarts. McGuinness of course used McLoone in a roving full forward role with the U21s, he and Michael Murphy alternating in many of the games in that Championship run two years ago.

The national media this week were still talking about Kevin Cassidy’s absence but the performances of McGlynn and McLoone today showed that maybe they should take a look at the footballers we have in the Donegal panel rather than looking back.

Cavan boss Terry Hyland tried to mimic his counterpart in the other dugout by pulling men back behind the ball but McGuinness simply told his men to follow their markers and this gave McGlynn, along with Karl Lacey and Anthony Thompson, licence to push up the field. The home side seemed to confuse themselves with this tactic and Donegal took full advantage, gaining a lot of possession from short kick outs.

Another Cavan tactic, in naming players out of position in an attempt to flummox Jim, didn’t really work either. In 2009, Antrim named somewhat of a dummy team and then at throw-in their players switched positions and it certainly unsettled Donegal that day and contributed to the Saffron’s shock win at MacCumhaill Park. Cavan tried a similar ploy today with forwards Ronan Flanagan and Robert Maloney-Derham named at corner back and half back respectively. Such a trick is never going to catch out a manager as astute as Jim McGuinness and again it didn’t really help Cavan and may only have served to take their focus away from the field of play.

No such trouble with Donegal in the first half though with the pace of our attacks a real feature of the match. Without Michael absent today the forward unit changed shape and there was very little long ball played into Patrick McBrearty and McFadden. Instead pinpoint ball was played in front of the forward duo and they dished off possession to the runners coming onto the ball. It was encouraging to see McBrearty in particular doing well in this role; though he didn’t manage to register a score himself, his all round effort was crucial. He had his fingerprints on many of his team’s scores today through winning so much first phase possession in the lead up to points, as well as winning the penalty.

Cavan couldn’t live with the speed of the runners from deep and the visitors chalked up plenty of scores throughout the day via this tactic just as they did against Armagh in the last league outing.

Mark McHugh gave a master class in how to play the modern half forward role; as usual he was the designated sweeper and played this role to a tee. He also got forward whenever he could and ended up with two points from play. The Kilcar man is liable to show up anywhere on the field such is his fitness and conditioning.

The midfield duo of Rory Kavanagh and Neil Gallagher both delivered big performances, and they had to coming up against Cavan‘s impressive young duo of Gearoid McKiernan and David Givney. Centurion Kavanagh notched three points from play and Neil got on the end of a move in the second half as well to get his name on the score sheet.

Paddy McGrath gave a super display from corner back but much of his good work came in Cavan’s half of the field as he raided forward with purpose throughout. His style of running, in particular how he runs across any potential tackler while he’s soloing, makes him very hard to stop and he wins plenty of frees from this - vital in giving his fellow defenders a breather after working hard to dispossess an opponent.

Many say the provincial Championships aren’t all that important anymore but the fillip of winning back to back titles will spur this side on in Ulster this year. Preparation and focus is still key; the management team certainly weren’t taking this game lightly and as they did last year, took up residence in the Slieve Russell Hotel on Saturday night.

Not quite as glamorous for the minors however, they were spotted stopping off for some bargain purchases from Aldi before they headed for home! They can certainly be proud of their efforts today as well, a huge win for Stephen Friel’s side over the reigning provincial champions. Minor championships are almost impossible to predict and indeed Cavan would have been fancied to win but today showed anything is possible.

Its back to Ballybofey for the next day out, a Saturday evening clash with Derry. The Oak Leaf county are still smarting over their defeat in last year’s decider so a huge battle is to be expected. They should have the Bradleys back in tow which will make it a tough assignment for The Messiah but no doubt he’ll already be formulating a plan to get us over the next hurdle.

Dun na nGall remain part of the elite

Donegal are a Division One team - that’s the outcome of today and that’s where we belong. 2013 will see the country’s top eight sides plying their trade in the league’s top tier, something which in truth hasn’t happened for quite a number of years.

The players showed great heart and determination in the second half in Ballybofey and like our other 'must win' games this year against Cork and Mayo you just got the feeling we wouldn’t be beaten. Armagh had their chances of course and will maybe feel that they could have come away with the win but overall the home side looked the better when it mattered most.

Plenty of rain early in the day left conditions fairly treacherous and indeed the referee didn’t seem to take this into account for much of his decision making in the first half. Both teams won some handy frees and with Michael Stevenson finding his range a lot quicker than Colm McFadden, Paddy O'Rourke's men built up a neat cushion.

Two of McFadden’s club mates were taken off before half time although Daniel McLoughlin and Martin McElhinney had been doing as well as anyone in the home attack. Jim McGuinness was looking to bring a bit of structure to his forward unit and the introductions of Dermot Molloy and Patrick McBrearty did add a bit of impetus to his side. McBrearty’s appearance brought to an end a busy week for the Kilcar youngster, as he had attended AFL trials in London organised by former Sydney Swans star Tadhg Kennelly. Neither Brick nor McBrearty had a huge impact on the game but they played their part in the overall team effort.

An inspirational score from Leo McLoone got things going in earnest for Donegal, the Naomh Conaill man had another stormer today before being replaced after shipping a heavy knock late in the game. McFadden pointed a free just before the half time whistle and being two points down at half time wasn’t the worst situation to be in as the teams headed for the dressing rooms.

After a decent match appeared to be breaking out in the first half, the intensity and the hitting was upped considerably in the second and we were treated to a cracking Ulster contest. It was as close as you’ll get to Championship fare at this time of year and the crowd responded in kind with the noise levels going up a few notches.

Armagh stretched their lead to four points at one stage but after that they would add only one more while Donegal would score eight. When we get in the mood our running game is incessant and teams simply cannot cope with our pace and power.

Brian McEniff famously told his charges in 1992 to run at the opposition like the waves hitting Tory and a similar ploy was adopted today. Leading the charge were Rory Kavanagh and Ryan Bradley, who constantly ran at the Armagh defence, prepared to take the hits and put their body on the line. The scores didn’t come immediately, over-elaboration in attack leading to turnovers and poor decision making; the players weren’t deterred though and kept running at the Orchard.

Of course you need possession to do anything and there was only one go-to man to win the ball and that was Big Neil Gallagher. Armagh had no answer to the Glenswilly midfielder as he caught numerous kickouts and was in the mix for any breaks that were going as well. He has really taken his game to another level over the course of this league campaign and is one of the major positives the management team will take out of it.

Another huge plus today was the outstanding performance of Malin’s Declan Walsh. He’s been in and around the panel for a few years now but today he really came of age putting in a great corner back display in place of the absent Paddy McGrath. On a couple of occasions in the second half he showed great maturity and composure by batting down high balls aimed in towards him rather than chancing a risky take over his head.

As Donegal struggled to show their superiority on the score board, Armagh remained dangerous on the break but thankfully the game’s pivotal moment swung in the home side’s favour. A misplaced pass from Rory Kavanagh led to a goal chance for Jamie Clarke (who had been well marshalled throughout by Karl Lacey and the afore mentioned Walsh) who skipped past Paul Durcan but could only find the post with his goal effort from a tight angle.

Mac Cumhaill Park was rocking at this stage and as the ball was scrambled clear the crowd urged the boys on another surge up the field. Its been quite a while since I can remember an atmosphere like it along the River Finn; the old pitch lost a bit of its allure somewhat after three successive Ulster championship exits from 2008-2010 but it had its mojo back today and it was great to hear the Tír Conaill faithful in full voice.

The story had a fitting finale with local lad Martin Reilly knocking over a point that made the game safe; Adrian Hanlon made extra sure with a fisted effort in the dying seconds to make it a three point win.

So overall a good league campaign; the primary aims were to blood new players and tweak the formations and systems and to do this while still keeping our Division One status intact will please everyone concerned.

All minds switch firmly to Breffni Park in six weeks time when national eyes will again fall on Donegal. Jim was asked about this, and the inevitable focus that will be on his players, in his post match interview with Charlie Collins today and was typically honest in his response regarding the media, “some people can give their opinions with dignity and respect, others cant.” It was a wonderfully measured statement and shows that whatever everyone else thinks about him and his team, all Jim cares about is doing the best he can for his county - and beating Cavan on May 20th.