Benny eager to push on

HIS 1-4 from play will make the headlines but the huge purple bruise that swelled his right eyelid spoke volumes for Benny Coulter’s overall contribution yesterday.

It went far beyond the business of knocking over the glory scores.

It has always been thus with the Mayobridge man.

Named at corner-forward yesterday, Coulter took on shifts right across the forward lines and midfield. For every score, there were two tackles made or a handful of supporting runs embarked upon.

“I’m not sure there is enough superlatives in the dictionary to describe Benny Coulter,” said his manager James McCartan. “He was outstanding.

“But Benny doesn’t want to be remembered for an outstanding performance in Ballybofey, he wants to be remembered for outstanding performances in Clones and Croke Park. He was fantastic but we can kick on from here and so can he.”

Years and years of migrating through the back-door route have taught Coulter the value of days like these and he is hungry for more.

“When you get a wee bit older, you start to look in front of you and realise there is not long left,” said Coulter. “You don’t want to go through your career and win nothing. I’ve won a few medals with the club but I want to win something with the county, whether an Ulster title or whatever it may be.

“It was a big win because we haven’t won that many games the last few years in Ulster. We’ve been through the back door and it’s a hard road to go and its not as easy to get up for the games. I am sure it will be buzzing in a few weeks’ time against Tyrone and we’ll have big Ambrose (Rogers) back for that as well.”

He had ample support in the forward trenches.

Daniel Hughes chipped in with four points from play, Mark Poland contributed on the scoreboard and around the park while Martin Clarke burnished his already significant reputation with a highly-effective display.

His battle with Barry Dunnion was a highlight of the afternoon but Clarke’s intelligence and inherent skill meant he was never far from the crucible, as his feed for Coulter’s goal emphasised.

“He is a great player,” said the goalscorer. “He gives the ball to the man in the best position. If the score is on, he hits it. If there is a better man on, he gives it. He makes a great difference to this team.

“The same with the rest of the new lads who have come in: Kalum King, John Clarke who has come back in, Benny McArdle in the full-back line. They are all great lads and they are hungry for success.”

Hungry, yes. Firing on all cylinders, no.

McCartan admitted as much afterwards, pointing out a two-point win didn’t make them world-beaters no more than a two-point defeat would have spelled the end of the world.

Still, they go on to face Tyrone while Donegal face the qualifiers yet again as their efforts to claim a first Ulster title since the All-Ireland winners of 1992 stretches on.

“I would not spend too much time thinking about it,” said manager John Joe Doherty. “We will just get back, dust ourselves down and get stuck in again.”

As that 18-year drought indicates, losing Ulster championship games is not a new phenomenon for folk in Donegal and Doherty made that very point lest the current crop feel the wrath for so much pent-up frustration.

That said, they have long been perceived as a side that does little to help itself and their fixation with the short-handpassing game came back to haunt them yet again.

The tactic nipped countless prospective attacks in the bud and led directly to Coulter’s game-breaking goal in extra-time when Neil Gallagher coughed up possession on the way out of defence. “We kicked the ball long in the first half and we got a couple of goals out of it but Down crowded out the backline to prevent us kicking long,” said Doherty.

“Although it might have seemed that we were just handpassing the ball across the middle of the field, in reality that was the way it was panning out but no doubt if you are giving away possession in a place like that, you are going to pay the price.”