Donegal U-20 boss Gary Boyle confirms Finnbarr Roarty was available for selection

“We got out of jail.”

Those were the exact words of candid Donegal boss Gary Boyle on their 2-15 to 3-11 win against a fired-up Fermanagh side who almost pulled off a massive shock.

In context, team captain Finnbarr Roarty did not play, and he did not appear to be togged out, although manager Boyle insisted he was available.

And Donegal also lost the talismanic Conor McCahill to injury after just three minutes.

But that does not explain the massive 17 wides and jittery display against a Fermanagh side who were huge underdogs.

Worryingly, many of those wides were from very scorable chances.

But Donegal did up their game in the final quarter after a poor first half.

However, Boyle will be hoping for a vastly improved display against Monaghan next Wednesday.

“We trailed for the whole game and only went ahead during injury time.”

So was it a case that Donegal underestimated Fermanagh?

“I am not sure if that crept in, but no, I felt we prepared well, and we were in a good place going into the game.

“We had a strong team out and all credit to Fermanagh, they went at us and put us under a lot of pressure.

“We had a lot of possession, but any time they went up the field, they nearly got a score out of it.

“We were creating chances all the time, but nothing was going our way, and we hit a lot of wides.”

But Boyle saluted his team’s grit to come back and take a smash-and-grab victory.

“They stuck at it, as anything that could go wrong did go wrong tonight.

“They still kept coming, and that is a good trait.”

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Without senior county player Finnbarr Roarty, who wasn’t togged, and an early injury to Conor McCahill, Donegal were down two key men, but Boyle felt they would have enough to take them over the line.

“Finnbarr was available tonight, and we did not take him into the panel, and we took a chance, and we thought we had other lads, and we said we would have a go with them.

“But Finnbarr was available.

“(McCahill) got a knock against Roscommon on Sunday, and he felt fine in the warmup, but he had to go off.

“Hopefully, he will be fine for next Wednesday.”

But Boyle paid tribute to an excellent Fermanagh team.

“They were very good, and I am sure they will be feeling sick as we got out of jail tonight.”

On the positive side, the Carrs - Turlough and Tomás - started to come into the game in the final quarter.

“Yes, we did win a lot of ball but did not finish, and Fermanagh looked dangerous every time they crossed the halfway line.

“We were attacking, but we could not complete.

“We were vulnerable under the high ball, and we will not survive against Monaghan if we repeat that performance.

“We have a lot of soul searching to do over the next week to get ourselves ready.”