Monaghan outfox Donegal

Donegal 1-4, Monaghan 0-9: At half-time yesterday at O’Donnell Park in Letterkenny, the stadium announcer informed the crowd that Mark English had won silver in the 800m at the European Indoor Athletic Championships in Prague.

It was greeted with warm applause. And although the Donegal support didn’t know it at the time, the Letterkenny native’s place on the podium was to be the loudest they’d get to show their affection all day.

At that point, Donegal and Monaghan were gridlocked at 0-4 each in a sterile Allianz League Division 1 encounter. Those of a green and gold persuasion weren’t overly concerned, on the face of it.