Donegal now better equipped for tough road ahead
Behold the empire of Donegal — destroyer of dreams, kings in the north.
Here again was proof of their hegemony in Ulster: a fifth provincial senior title in the decade and a back-to-back to boot. Don’t be fooled by the scoreline either even if it was the highest scoreline ever recorded in this historic fixture.
This was no thrill-a-minute decider, more a coronation stretched out over 79 minutes.
Cavan’s fans, giddy on the notion that they were appearing in a first decider in 18 years and chasing a first title in 22, never got the chance to clear their throats and roar their side over the line.
Or even close to it.
It was a game robbed of an occasion and Donegal will see that as a job well done. They have the look of a side that is comfortable with its moving parts and its operation as a collective on both sides of the ball. Tougher assignments await, but they appear well braced to meet them.
Once the Cinderella of the Ulster Championship, they have now taken it upon themselves to deny others access to the ball.
This is their place in the greater scheme of things now.
Down, Derry, Fermanagh and Cavan — none of them with a title to their name this century — have all now been denied silverware in this storied fixture by the two-time All-Ireland champions.
Donegal have captured this latest garland with a side that is beautifully balanced between grizzled oldies with multiple provincial medals — and a Celtic Cross — to their name, and a slew of younger men for whom these days must still hold a magical, other-worldly quality.
None more so in that regard than Odhran McFadden Ferry whose start here was his first taste of senior football with his county.
Hunger levels appeared to be undimmed by all this success, regardless of age or experience, and manager Declan Bonner has stressed the importance of grabbing what they can, while they can.
“I said it to the players that there was lads appearing in their eighth final and others appearing in their first... five times in 10 years is brilliant,” he said afterwards.
We went long spells without one, so you have to make the most of every opportunity when you get here.
Donegal were simply excellent. Rigid and parsimonious at the back, they drew Cavan on to them with a degree of comfort and struck repeatedly on the break, making hay with a succession of late runners who would suddenly find themselves trotting through open prairies of space where before there was only congestion and confusion.
A dozen different players contributed to the scoreline from play here and that democracy of effort across all areas of the pitch is equally apparent in the fluidity of the man holding the fort at the back. It is a system of a million moving parts that has taken countless hours to construct, but it worked like clockwork here.
Dominant in midfield for long spells too, it was a formula that amounted to one-way traffic for vast stretches of the first half which they dominated from start to finish — the wind at their backs maybe helping to put the squeeze on Cavan who only began to find something of their true selves in the final quarter.
There was a theory that Tyrone had been their own worst enemy when losing to Donegal in the semi-final, and you could argue similarly about Cavan here given that they opted to field a less offensive side and played far too predictably.
Their failure to use the long ball until the closing chapters was just puzzling.
“Aw, we were top-class in the first half,” said Bonner. “There were scores coming from all over the pitch and some excellent passages of football. We were dominating the kick-outs and we got scores with the likes of Eoghan Ban (Gallagher) and Ryan (McHugh) coming from deep, Hughie MacFadden as well. Second half, we conceded two sloppy goals and all, but that is for another time.”
Those late frailties will certainly give them reason to pause before they tackle the Super 8s, but they were conceded in garbage time, Conor Madden’s arriving six minutes from the end and Stephen Murray’s five minutes into the red when the Donegal bench was poised and twitching for the celebrations on the sideline.
Credit to Cavan for refusing to wilt and taking the game to Donegal in that second half, but they didn’t manage a rally until midway through the period with three points on the trot and any suggestion of a turnaround was promptly ended when Jamie Brennan pounced for his goal moments later.
The Super 8s await, even if there was an understandable desire on the part of Bonner to stall that campaign and luxuriate in the fact that they have now secured as many Ulster titles since 2011 as the county had managed in its entire history in the years preceding it.
“Take one step at a time,” he cautioned.
We knew coming up here today that Cavan would pose a big, big threat and they did. In fairness to Mickey (Graham) and the lads they really put it up to us right to the end.
“We have our next match — it is going to be a home match in MacCumhaill Park the first match in the Super 8s. We look forward to that, and get ready for that. We will take it step by step.”
G McKiernan (0-6, 0-3 frees); C Madden (1-1); D McVeety (0-3); S Murray (1-0); C Moynagh, C Brady, O Pearson, J Brady and C O’Reilly (all 0-1); C Mackey (0-1).
J Brennan (1-4); P McBrearty (0-5, 0-1 free); M Murphy (0-4, 0-3 frees); J McGee and C Thompson (both 0-2); R McHugh, E Ban Gallagher, H McFadden, N O’Donnell, M Langan, O Gallen, D O Baoill (all 0-1).
R Galligan; J McLoughlin, K Clarke, P Faulkner; C Brady, C Moynagh, C Rehill; C Brady, G McKiernan; N Murray, O Kiernan, G Smith; M Reilly, D McVeety, O Pearson.
S Murray for N Murray (31); C Mackey for Kiernan and C Madden for Smith (both HT); T Galligan for Conor Brady (51); C O’Reilly for Pearson (53); J Brady for Rehill 71).
S Patton; P McGrath, N McGee, S McMenamin; R McHugh, O McFadden Ferry, E Ban Gallagher; H McFadden, J McGee; N O’Donnell, M Langan, C Thompson; P McBrearty, M Murphy, J Brennan.
D O Baoill for O’Donnell (43); F McGlynn for McGee (53); P Brennan for McFadden Ferry (61); O Gallen for Thompson (63); L McLoone for Langan (71); C Ward for McMenamin (75).
C Lane (Cork).
GAA podcast: Should Kerry sweep? Cork binning excuses. The adoration of Michael Murphy. Tripping Dublin
Mike Quirke reviews the GAA weekend with Oisín McConville, Donncha O'Connor and Tony Leen.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
