Lifeless and Cassidy-less Donegal exposed by lively Laois
On a spring afternoon in Letterkenny when Laois defied their position as favourites for the drop, Donegal manager Jim McGuinness was questioned about Cassidy, who was standing three yards from him in role as TG4 analyst, in the pre-match interviews.
“Kevin made his decision and that’s it,” McGuinness said. “We have to move on now. He made his comments and they are what they are. From my point of view we have dealt with the issue.”
The news somewhat overshadowed an industrious performance from Laois. Late goals from Anthony Thompson and Neil Gallagher merely papered over the Donegal cracks and the Laois spadework was done at that stage.
“We would be very happy with the performance and the workrate,” manager Justin McNulty said afterwards. “It was phenomenal. I’m delighted. Them boys gave it their all.
The visitors opened brightly, with Ross Munnelly scoring three points from play, while David Conway, Colm Begley and Pádraig Clancy were also on target.
Minus experienced players like Colm McFadden, Michael Murphy, Christy Toye and Martin McElhinney, Donegal’s only forward capable of scoring was Leaving Cert student Patrick McBrearty. The 18-year-old scored four first half points, two from frees, to take his team back to within two, (0-4 to 0-6) as the first half drew to a close. But moments later referee Michael Duffy awarded Laois a penalty after Karl Lacy was adjudged to have pushed Paul Cahillane. The Laois corner-forward dusted himself down to place the ball into the bottom corner to give the Leinster side a sturdy interval advantage, 1-6 to 0-4 in front.
In their opening day defeat to Mayo, Laois had bombed balls in on Clancy, who has been operating at full-forward instead of his normal abode at centre-field. The outcome in Portlaoise wasn’t as spectacular as McNulty might’ve wanted but in Letterkenny there was a more satisfying conclusion for player and manager.
Seventeen minutes into the second half, following points from Darren Strong and Conway, Clancy outjumped Neil McGee to plant a second Laois goal. Conway then picked up the break from another Clancy and McGee tussle to put Laois 2-9 to 0-4 ahead.
Parts of the disappointed home crowd started spilling out the gates at that early stage and missed Donegal’s attempted comeback. Rory Kavanagh’s point was greeted with only a muted response but two goals in 50 seconds increased the decibel level.
The first, from Anthony Thompson on 61 minutes, was contentious. Donegal full-back McGee joined the attack, although he fluffed his shot before Eoin Culliton spilled the ball to the Donegal wing-back, who smacked from the ground. Although Kieran Lillis managed to partially block the umpire waved the green flag to indicate the ball had slipped over the line.
It got no better for the Laois full-back as from Donegal’s very next attack he got a hand but failed to cut out a pass from McBrearty to Neil Gallagher and the stand-in full-forward smashed the ball home. The margin Laois possessed had been scratched down from 10 to four but from there they weathered the storm. Eight minutes and two of stoppage rendered only one more point, when Kavanagh scored from an acute angle, which meant Laois can look forward to the rest of their series with renewed optimism, while Donegal look to be embroiled in a relegation battle.
Scorers for Donegal: A Thompson and N Gallagher (1-0 each), P McBrearty (0-4, 2f) R Kavanagh (0-2).
Scorers for Laois: P Clancy (1-1), R Munnelly (0-3), D Conway (0-3, 1f), P Cahillane (1-0, pen), D Strong and C Begley (0-1 each).
Subs for Donegal: David Walsh for Molloy ht; S Griffin for Hanlon (45); E McGee for McGrath (57); Declan Walsh for Bradley (67); E Waide for Lacey (72).
Subs for Laois: C Kelly for Cahillane (57); MJ Tierney for Conway (67); J Kavanagh for O’Connor (72).
Referee: Michael Duffy (Sligo).
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