The Alternative View: Heroic efforts from Donegal players get their reward

Donegal and Armagh were like Gladiators without the paraphernalia in St Tiernach’s Park, Clones on Saturday. For 90 minutes they battled and treated the 28,788 attendance to a contest that seemed destined once again for penalties.

Thank God it didn’t come down to that. The Coronary Care units were on standby as it was. Hats off to both sets of players for providing an epic encounter.

It is always easier to reflect back on the game from a winning perspective and you have to feel for Armagh, beaten now in the last three Ulster finals, the first two on penalties, and now by an extra-time point.

The beaming smiles were on supporters' faces in the green and gold and the gloom of a huge Armagh support who keep coming back in huge numbers.

No matter who you asked for an opinion on the outcome of the game as we arrived in St Tiernach’s Park it was the same story. This game would be tight. Rarely do games live up to expectations. This one did and even surpassed expectations.

Would Caolan McGonagle start? Three of our best players in the 2024 final were Jason McGee, Niall O’Donnell and Oisin Gallen. Two of them were on the bench. And we had a 19-year-old at corner-back. There was no shortage of talking points.

Tickets were scarce with word that there were a couple of bus loads  coming from Armagh without tickets. There was a good smattering of green and gold and orange inside as the Donegal and Armagh Ladies took to the field for the curtain raiser at 3 p.m. The sun was high in the sky and the odd cloud was a welcome relief to those early birds who would spend longer in the open than they would on a holiday in Majorca.

The orange of Armagh was flying high as the Ladies proved too good for Donegal but only after a spirited Donegal second half performance.

Ulster final day and Clones are synonymous, but this was a Saturday evening and not the usual Sunday. The Anglo Celt Cup, named after the famous Cavan newspaper, was on view for the 100th time and the O’Hanlon family were the recipients of a presentation to mark the occasion.

Patrick McBrearty lifts the Anglo Celt for the second time on Saturday Picture: Thomas Gallagher

The programme notes told us that the original Anglo Celt Cup was won by Cavan in 1925, defeating Antrim in a replay in Belturbet after the initial final was drawn in Monaghan. Cavan always had a habit of getting a home draw for a replay as something similar happened against Donegal in the mid 1960s.

The original cup was decommissioned in 1963 with a new cup being donated by the Anglo Celt which was presented to Down captain George Lavery after they, ironically, defeated  Donegal in what was Donegal’s first ever Ulster senior final.

Since then Donegal have appeared in 26 finals, a couple of which went to replays, and on Saturday we were lifting the Anglo Celt for the 12th time, joining Down on the Roll of Honour. We are still trailing Armagh (14), Monaghan and Tyrone (16) and Cavan (39).

Since the beginning of the new millennium Donegal have appeared in 15 finals, winning seven, and looking at those numbers it is easy to see why people are so elated when you come out on the right side. It is never easy to get over the line.

That is also the reason why everyone wants to be at these games. Seamus Byrne was glad he stayed at home after arriving for the semi-final from Dubai; Paul McGinley was pictured with John ‘40’ Murrin and Seamus outside the stadium. Peter McGinley and Seamus Carr made the trip from London and Pat McGill was home from New York.

And it turned out to be a good day to be a Donegal supporter. As the team marched around in the parade behind the St Mary’s Brass and Reed Band from Kingscourt, we wondered if they were ready. Caolan McGonagle was named to start, as was Hugh McFadden - two big, strong men, and we knew they would be needed.

Little did we know what was to unfold. A nervous opening from both sides and a scary moment when Shaun Patton was rushing back to his goals and Oisin Conaty’s effort almost crept in at the butt of the post. Another Jarly Óg Burns effort came back off the upright with Patton lifting another ball to take the kick-out as he thought it was going wide. And that’s just the opening couple of minutes.

A drop of the shoulder from Michael Langan and he glides through on goal. Even though fouled he gets his shot away but it’s saved. Patrick McBrearty scores the free to set the game in motion. A rare Ryan McHugh turnover gives Armagh the opportunity to level. The first big play sees Ciaran Thompson rise for a kick-out and then get involved again to hit a two pointer. Donegal are into their stride now.

But even when they stretched seven clear thanks to some outstanding play from Michael Murphy and Oisin Gallen they were pegged back in the last three or four minutes of the first half to just three at the break.

It’s a similar story in the second half. Armagh peg Donegal back to a point before Hugh McFadden pounces for the opening goal. The ball breaks kindly for him and all those days spent in Emerald Park were put to good use. He smashes it first time to give the Armagh defence no time to close him down. Donegal go seven clear again by the 48th minute and you would think they were on their way.

But inextricably they found it difficult to add to their tally. A lone Jason McGee point was all they had to show for the final 22 minutes, this despite owning the ball at times. That will be the biggest takeaway lesson for Jim McGuinness and his backroom team.

Armagh kept plugging away with Stefan Campbell and Oisin O’Neill to the fore  There must have been relief on the Donegal bench when O’Neill was substituted. Was he injured? Still Donegal had it in their own hands, literally, in the final minutes but coughed it up and Oisin Conaty was given the space to send the game to extra-time.

The sight of players from both sides just collapsing with exhaustion and cramp underlined the efforts put in by both sets of players. In that situation it was going to take a cool head and there was none cooler than Niall O’Donnell, who got Donegal level in the first period of extra-time and then hit what proved to be the winner. In between Michael Langan created the opportunity for Ciaran Moore to net an important goal.

The bravery of Eoin McHugh to take the pass from O’Donnell in the final play and keep the ball was outstanding; young Finnbarr Roarty held his nerve in tight situations; Brendan McCole’s turnover while out on his feet; the sight of Peadar Mogan hopping back to his own half on one leg. There were so many great memories.

READ NEXT: Patience was a virtue for Niall O'Donnell in extra-time

When you look back on games such as Saturday’s you have to take into account that there is no such thing as perfection in sport. But when I watched the game again late on Saturday night, early Sunday morning, there were aspects of the game and individual performances that were close to perfection.

Take away the free missed in the first period of extra-time and Ciaran Thompson’s contribution was phenomenal; take away the attempt for a point that landed in Ethan Rafferty’s hands in the opening minutes and Shane O’Donnell’s performance was in the same bracket, covering every blade of grass; (how did he not get into the GAA Team of the Week?);  Michael Murphy was rolling back the years; Oisin Gallen in the opening half was brilliant; Shaun Patton’s kick-out which even by-passed the Armagh ‘keeper and landed inside the Armagh ‘45’ and found Oisin Gallen on 55 minutes. So many moments in a classic.

Twelve Anglo Celts;  just six captains (Frankie McFeely, Pauric McShea, Michael Lafferty, Anthony Molloy (2), Michael Murphy (5) and Patrick McBrearty (2) represents Donegal’s Ulster winning history - but it is growing. Patrick McBrearty stretches his Ulster medal collection to seven.

Jim McGuinness’s record in Ulster is mesmerising. Just one defeat over six campaigns - 20 wins out of 21. And he’s not finished yet!

The excitement of 2024 under the old rules can now be compared to what we witnessed on Saturday evening under the new rules. This year’s final created a new scoring record for an Ulster provincial decider. The 57 points recorded  on Saturday eclipses the record of the 1971 encounter between Down and Derry (4-15 to 4-11) in what was then an 80 minute final. It’s fair to say the new rules are a success. There may be a need for a few little amendments (the two point free the clearest) but they have created a much better spectacle. My  notes had only four frees in the first half (two each) and just seven in the second. I may have missed some but that shows the discipline of both sides. 

Those free statistics alone underline the impact of the new rules. Imagine an Ulster final in the past with just four frees in the first half. You would get more than that in the first five minutes!

Saturday was Game 4 of a possible 10/11 for Donegal in 2025. Tyrone, Cavan and Mayo are next up. Best to keep the heart monitors close by.

There is still an imbalance at All-Ireland Series level. Apart from the difficulty winning the claustrophobic Ulster Championship, Donegal now play three games in four weeks, while Glaway and Kerry have a week between all their games. I know there are changes again next year but we have to get to a situation where everyone is playing on a level playing field.

FOOTNOTE: The one aspect of Saturday’s classic which soured a little was the schemozzle afterwards. Given this occurred when a lot of supporters, some of them very young, were on the pitch at the time is disturbing. Emotions need to be curtailed and there is an argument that pitch invasions like those that happen on big occasions may need to be curtailed also. 

All-Ireland final day in Croke Park is now much cleaner and I suspect more enjoyable for the players with spectators kept in their seats watching on the big screen. It is brilliant for fans to be able to join their heroes and I wouldn’t like to be a spoilsport. But you can see that incidents recorded on social media that happened in Monaghan Town on Saturday evening and on Hill 16 in Croke Park on Sunday, we are entering a difficult era for the organisers of big games. It’s great to see full houses and by and large spectators are able to mix and enjoy the games. Let’s hope that can continue.

MATCH FACTS

Donegal scorers: Oisin Gallen 0-4; Ciaran Thompson 0-4,2tp; Ciaran Moore 1-1; Hugh McFadden 1-0; Michael Murphy 0-3; Patrick McBrearty 0-3,3f; Michael Langan 0-2;  Niall O'Donnell 0-2; Dáire Ó Baoill, Peadar Mogan,  Conor O'Donnell, Jason McGee 0-1 each

Armagh scorers: Oisin O'Neill 0-7,1tp,1tpf; Oisin Conaty 0-6; Ross McQuillan 0-3; Ethan Rafferty 0-3,45,1tpf; Stefan Campbell 0-3; Jason Duffy 0-2; Ben Crealey, Andrew Murnin,  Callum O'Neill, Jarly Og Burns 0-1 each.

Donegal: Shaun Patton; Finnbarr Roarty, Brendan McCole, Peadar Mogan; Ryan McHugh, Caolan McGonagle, Ciaran Moore; Hugh McFadden, Michael Langan; Dáire Ó Baoill, Ciaran Thompson, Shane O’Donnell; Patrick McBrearty, Michael Murphy, Oisin Gallen.

Subs: Conor O'Donnell for McBrearty (43); Jason McGee for McFadden (49); Jamie Brennan for O Baoill (52); Eoin McHugh for Moore (54); Aaron Doherty for Gallen (64)

Extra-time: Odhran McFadden Ferry and Niall O'Donnell for A Doherty and J Brennan; Patrick McBrearty for Murphy (6); Dáire Ó Baoill for R McHugh (8); Stephen McBrearty for McCole (14)

Armagh: Ethan Rafferty; Paddy Burns, Barry McCambridge, Aidan Forker; Ross McQuillan, Greg McCabe, Jarly Óg Burns; Callum O’Neill, Ben Crealey; Darragh McMullen, Rory Grugan, Oisin Conaty; Tiernan Kelly, Andrew Murnin, Oisin O’Neill.

Subs: Conor Turbitt for Kelly (41); Stefan Campbell for C O'Neill (49); Peter McGrane for McCabe (52); Jason Duffy for O O'Neill (60); Niall Grimley for Forker (60);

Extra-time: Connaire Mackin for Murnin; Cian McConville for Conaty (9); Shane McPartlan for Grugan (13); Tomas McCormack for McQuillan (18)

Referee: Brendan Cawley (Kildare)