‘Team Ulster’ take care of their own

At half-time of what is by now the legendary 2011 Dublin-Donegal semi-final, this writer fell into conversation with another from Ulster [not Donegal].

Jim McGuinness’s side were leading 0-4 to 0-2, the game was being played on their terms and he was cocksure they were going to win.

So assured was he of Donegal’s success that he categorically refused to accept the premise that Dublin, in their third year under Pat Gilroy, would eventually find holes in a system that was only months in operation. In fact, he guffawed.