A dogfight as Donegal dig out win

Down 0-09 Donegal 0-12

Down have long carried a reputation for florid football but they adapted to the modern game as well as anyone yesterday in Cavan and it made for a game of wincing physicality and fitness against the Ulster and All-Ireland champions.

The consequence was a spectacle that, aesthetically, was almost devoid of beauty and the low-scoring nature of the final scoreline only hints at the paucity of magical moments on an afternoon when might was almost always right.