Donegal up and running

THOSE who expected the championship to start with a bang yesterday with the first game on Irish soil were left as disheartened.

For Donegal, six-point winners against Antrim, this was a medicinal success after four years without a win in the Ulster championship. For the team managed by Liam Bradley there was to be no fairytale repeat of their win in Ballybofey the year before last, which acted as a springboard in a summer when they tore a few feathers off Tyrone and Kerry.

For the 7,385 hardy souls among the continual downpour meant there was more a feel of a Dr McKenna Cup outing than a championship opener. That feeling was still palpable at the end of the match.