The day football’s fate hung in the balance

THERE are quite a few words to describe how the other 81,435 people in Croke Park felt at half-time in yesterday’s All-Ireland semi-final but trapped was my first thought, and it’s as good as any to explain how we all felt.

Caught between a need for Donegal’s negativity to fail but beguiled by the prospect of it succeeding.

Jimmy McGuinness makes it all palatable because he’s sincere, genial and articulate but for an hour of a game as primal as anything I can remember, football’s fate hung in the balance.