Ballybofey and bust for Donegal

THERE are certain things the people of Ballybofey have come to take for granted when the championship swings into town – gridlock, rising mercury and gut-wrenching defeats for the home team.

Yesterday was the third time in three seasons Donegal’s Ulster Championship ambitions came a cropper in the opening round at a sweltering MacCumhaill Park. So much for home comforts.

As was the case with Antrim and Derry before them, Down were made work for their win. A grand total of five points has separated the three visitors from Donegal in all that time, small comfort though that will be.

Not for the first time, Donegal contributed handsomely to their own downfall and this against a Down side that was missing half a dozen players through injuries and suspensions.

No doubt there were men sitting mournfully in pubs and shaking their heads the length and breadth of the county last night muttering that ‘they were there for the taking’ and they wouldn’t be far wrong.

The Mourne men trailed for 57 of the 70 minutes in regulation and it was only with Benny Coulter’s goal four minutes from the end of the second extra period that the favourites were able to catch their breath.

Much of what separated the two teams was distilled into that one score, including the contributions of Daniel Hughes, Martin Clarke and Coulter as well as the loss of possession from which it all stemmed.

Neil Gallagher was the culprit on that particular occasion and, while both sides conceded an unholy amount of turnovers, it was poetic justice that Donegal’s persistence with short passing finally did them in.

The truly frustrating thing is that they had profited so richly from long, diagonal balls into the imposing Michael Murphy in the first-half before abandoning the tactic altogether as the game wore on.

Goals from corner-forwards Dermot Molloy and Conal Dunne after 12 and 18 minutes handed Donegal a start they could hardly have dreamed of and Murphy was the conduit for both green flags.

His catch for the first – over the heads of two defenders – was breathtaking but Donegal reverted to old tricks after a handful of Rory Kavanagh’s poorly-guided raking passes fell short of their target. Like Meath against Offaly last week, Down refused to panic and rattled off a spate of points after both concessions but, as a spectacle, the game was suffering through the presence of sweepers on either side.

The seventh defender is the fashion accessory ‘du jour’ in Ulster this summer and, while both Barry Monaghan and James Colgan helped tighten things up, neither is a Joe McMahon in using the ball.

Down were still two points in arrears at the break, thanks in no small part to a stunning reflex save by Paul Durcan from a Coulter shot 23 minutes in, but the Down captain wasn’t be denied the victory.

His best score came 58 minutes into the programme and ended after a lung-busting run that swallowed three-quarters of the pitch and which came – almost inevitably – from another turnover.

Any pretence of a Donegal game plan had long disappeared by then. Starved of any ball, Murphy came out to the half-forward line in search of scraps but the lateral passing just went on and on.

Down had drawn level for the first time in almost an hour by the time Donegal launched a rare missile into the square and, surprise, surprise, it ended with Murphy causing havoc and a roving scavenger tipping over for a point. Lesson learned? Not at all.

Donegal continued in their attempts to weave pretty patterns and the frequency with which the excellent Kevin Cassidy rampaged upfield only for the move to end with a backward or misplaced pass was infuriating.

All the momentum was with Down, imperfect though they were. Though Durcan denied Dan Gordon a goal with a diving save on 68 minutes, there was still time for Clarke to tip over what appeared to be the game-winning free.

Not so. Kavanagh’s first score of the day two minutes into injury-time ensured another 20 minutes which began with Down corner-back Brendan McArdle deflecting the ball onto the butt of his own post.

Coulter, Hughes and Clarke all played their part in Down opening up a two-point buffer for the first time but Donegal pegged them back before Coulter’s big moment ensured a provincial semi-final meeting with Tyrone.

Down: B McVeigh; B McArdle, D Rooney, D Rafferty; K McKernan, J Colgan, C Garvey; D Gordon, K King; D Hughes (0-4), M Poland (0-3), P McComiskey; B Coulter (1-4), J Clarke (0-1), M Clarke (0-3). Subs: C McGinn, D Gordon, P Fitzpatrick. Extra time: C Laverty, R Murtagh.

Donegal: P Durcan; F McGlynn, N McGee, K Lacey; M Maguire, K Cassidy, B Dunnion; B Monaghan, N Gallagher; R Kavanagh (0-1), C Toye, D Walsh (0-1); D Molloy (1-3), M Murphy (0-1), C Dunne (1-0). Subs: A Hanlon (0-1), A Thompson, M McHugh (0-1), D O'Hagan, C McFadden (0-1). Extra time: P McGrath, E Wade (0-1).