Brave Donegal hurlers eventually put to the sword by Kerry

Who else were they going to turn to when all around were losing their heads, when the pressure was greatest, when the need was at its maximum? In case of emergency, break glass, or simply turn to Pádraig Boyle.

In 38 minutes of hurling (including time added on), the Ballyduff man delivered 3-2 for his side. Helping rescue what was looking like a potentially desperate situation.

The Kingdom were fancied not only to win this game with Donegal – the bookies gave them a 93% chance of doing so – they were expected to win it well, with something to spare, with the minimum of fuss.

Instead, Mickey McCann’s men rocked up to Austin Stack Park (for their first ever visit in the small-ball code) and rattled the place to its core with a performance of guts, determination and even in defeat, a little glory too.

Donegal played the majority of the game with 14 men, and played the final ten minutes with 13, but never, ever did they throw the towel in, and only with a handful of minutes on the clock did they look finally vanquished.

Even with Kerry delivering five goals across the contest – four in the second half, three from Boyle – Donegal still managed to go in front at the break, and still managed to get back in front in the second half, bouncing back from Boyle’s opening goal to go in front on 47 minutes.

Even after Boyle’s second goal, Donegal levelled things up on 61 minutes in the wake of a penalty from Luke White, a point from Brian MacIntyre and a ‘65 from the classy Gerard Gilmore.

Indeed, it felt at times like the Kingdom were facing a Gilmore gale. The Donegal wing-forward scored 13 points across the contest, ever ready to punish sloppy defending and tackling from the home side.

Gilmore and Donegal caught the Kingdom napping in the early exchanges. A trio of points from the number 12 got the Tír Chonaill men up and running.

Not even a very nice early point from Evan Murphy at centre-forward – winning the puck-out and firing over from a good 50 metres out – sparked the green and gold to life.

To call them lethargic might even be something of an understatement. Whatever sense of urgency they might have had for the game and the competition, they seemed to have left behind them in Trim.

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Donegal pushed on with another point from centre-back Kevin Kealy before the game’s opening goal arrived courtesy of Josh McGee Cronolly. The corner-forward won a great ball, shrugged off the attentions of his marker and finished smartly.

McGee Cronolly’s goal left Donegal six in front just five minutes into the contest at 1-4 to  0-1, the realisation of which seemed to stir at least a little something in the Kingdom.

Over the following 17 minutes, Kerry shot eight unanswered, with Jordan Brick very much to the fore. Ronan Walsh unerring from the placed ball, as Donegal’s momentum stalled.

The red-card dismissal of midfielder Danny Cullen in this period, sent to the line for a high challenge on Gavin Dooley, would seem to have spelled the likely end of Donegal’s challenge.

Instead, however, it only served to galvanise them further, as Donegal finished the half much, much stronger. They looked like the side with the extra man. Kerry, if anything, looked even more complacent and shell-shocked than before.

Donegal were out to five in front in injury-time in the first half, 0-10 to 1-12, before a goal just before the short whistle by Kevin Goulding gave the Kingdom a modicum of hope before the second half, 1-10 to 1-12.

The introduction of Boyle at the break was very much proving the pivotal moment in the contest. It took the Ballyduff maestro less than sixty seconds to raise a first green flag following an assist by Hugh Lenihan. 

A point by Jordan Brick shortly after had Kerry three in front, but if you were expecting the Kingdom to kick on and for Donegal to wilt, it just never happened.

Donegal, down to fourteen, hung on magnificently.

Even in the wake of Pádraig Boyle’s second goal on 47 minutes, and Goulding’s second on 53 minutes.

To be fair, the Ulster men’s cause was boosted by a penalty for a foul on McGee Cronolly, dispatched brilliantly by White. Squeaky bum time now for Kerry and it wasn’t until another penalty, this time for the Kingdom, that the game was wrapped up.

Michael Slattery – really impressive in the contest, always showing for the ball, was fouled by Ciaran Bradley, leaving who else but Boyle to slam home and wrap it up for the Kingdom.

Relief all round Austin Stack Park for the victors, relief and a real respect for what Donegal are capable of. If one was inclined to put their victory over Kerry in the league last year down as an aberration, this performance very much suggests otherwise.

If these two sides were to meet again down the line, the bookies aren’t going to be nearly as generous with their odds on a Donegal victory, that’s for sure.

Kerry scorers: Pádraig Boyle 3-2,1-0 pen; Ronan Walsh 0-8,7f; Kevin Goulding 2-0; Tom Doyle and Jordan Brick 0-2 each; Michael Leane, Evan Murphy, Michael Slattery and Ivan Conway 0-1 each.

Donegal scorers: Gerard Gilmore 0-13,9f,1’65; Luke White 1-1,1-0 pen,1f; Josh McGee Cronolly 1-0; Brian MacIntyre and Richie Ryan 0-2 each; Kevin Kealy, John Kealy, Peter Kelly and Conor O’Grady 0-1 each.

Kerry: Conor Bohane; Eric Leen, Seán McGrath, Kyle O’Connor; James O’Connor, Jason Diggins, Michael Leane; Kevin Goulding, Hugh Lenihan; Jordan Brick, Evan Murphy, Tom Doyle; Michael Slattery, Gavin Dooley, Ronan Walsh.

Subs: Pádraig Boyle for G Dooley, (ht), Adam Segal for H Lenihan, 53, Ivan Conway for R Walsh (61), Niall O’Mahony for J O’Connor, (72)

Donegal: Luke White; Oisín Kelly, Ciaran Bradley, Steven McBride, Conor O’Grady; Kevin Kealy, John Kealy, Danny Cullen; Brian MacIntrye, Declan Coulter; Ronan McDermott, Gerard Gilmore; Peter Kelly, Richie Ryan, Josh McGee Cronolly.

Subs: Ryan Hifferty for Kelly (49), Conor Diver for J Kealy (69), Caolan O’Neill for McGee Cronolly (70), Dan Donnelly for Coulter (70).

Referee: Nicholas O’Toole (Waterford)