An Alternative View: Fulfill Bars, Chicken and Chips and keeping the faith

The last time I travelled to the Athletic Grounds was late November, 2020. The roads were quiet and Donegal supporters, just like their Cavan counterparts at the time, were prohibited from making that same journey.

It was Ulster final day or, rather, night. But the Covid pandemic was rampant at the time. Fast forward two and a bit seasons and the roads were quiet once again. Even prior to landing in Armagh it was pretty apparent that a pandemic of a different nature, perhaps one of disillusionment now, was spreading in the Hills.

Setting off on Saturday evening, myself and new editor of Iconic Media’s NW Division, Alan Foley (he insists that is how we all now address him), decided to meet in Lifford and carry on together.

Gauging Donegal’s chances over our takeaway coffees, topped with almond milk, and our Fulfill bars, we both came to the measured conclusion that Donegal would, more than likely, be leaving Armagh empty handed.

Approaching Aughnacloy, we decided we needed even more protein. Pit-stopping in Sally’s, two dirty big plates of chicken and chips were ordered. The intentions are always good until well, they’re not.

Continuing on the final leg of our journey we eventually ditched our vehicle behind a number of others that had taken residence upon the far footpath, high above the venue and right behind the main stand.

The Athletic Grounds is one of the most compact and atmospheric places out there to watch a game of Gaelic Football and on a still, calm March night under floodlights, it was obvious the place was buzzing and already packed to its seams.

At one stage, midway through the second period, it was announced over the tannoy that the evening’s official attendance was 12,580. One loyal Donegal supporter - leaning in over the outside press area - commented that he very much doubted that the visitors could have accounted for even the 580 of that figure.

It got me wondering about John Gildea’s point last week, in these pages, about supporters perhaps letting the ongoing Academy fiasco influence rowing in behind our senior football team right now, when they really need it. It shouldn’t but it looks like it is.

With or without the background rumblings, Donegal are a side in transition. The county’s greatest ever player called it a day. A protracted process to find a successor to Declan Bonner which, in the end, was bordering on farcical, eventually culminated in Paddy Carr and Aidan O’Rourke being hastily lumped together as a joint ticket.

Maybe this latest off field saga is the straw finally breaking the camel’s back. Maybe, just like myself and new editor of Iconic Media’s NW Division, Alan Foley, supporters felt we’d be leaving Armagh empty handed at the weekend so why even bother setting off in the first place?

The rights and wrongs or the truth in between is still very much up in the air regarding the Academy fallout. As things stand, despite both sides having their say (of sorts), there isn’t really anything in either of Karl Lacey or the county board’s releases that sheds real light on the nub of this disaster.

And to describe it as a disaster isn’t an over exaggeration. Read Eamon McGee’s Irish Star column this week - this is one of those real ‘fork in the road’ junctures for Donegal GAA. But letting that have any kind of impact on following our senior footballers is wrong.

The new management and the players are still giving it everything they’ve got. On Sunday week, Mayo come to Ballybofey. It’s a chance for supporters to get back on the horse. A win there would set things up nicely for Donegal’s final outing, away to Roscommon. With two rounds to go there is still scope and room for some real twists and turns.

It’s easy to forget that Donegal went to Armagh off the back of a battling effort against Galway, in Letterkenny, that secured Paddy Carr’s men a point. Indeed, a slight improvement on their paltry 40 per cent shot conversion rate in O’Donnell Park could easily have netted them the win.

However, 14 wides over the 70 or so minutes, and a scoring return of just ten points again told its own story in Armagh. Coincidentally enough, Donegal’s shot conversion rate once again came in at 40 percent.

Settling into my seat in Armagh, I was fortunate enough to have former Donegal star and current Roscommon coach Mark McHugh for company in the press area. I’ve no doubt that is how we’ll soon be describing Karl Lacey - former Donegal and current somewhere else. But enough negativity for now.

Donegal released their team on Friday night or, should I say, they reproduced last week’s starting XV for the programme so it was obvious there would be changes. And, in came Peadar Mogan for Hugh McFadden and Caolan Ward for Marty O’Reilly.

Shy of ten minutes the fact that it took both goalkeepers, Shaun Patton and Ethan Rafferty, to get their respective sides off the mark… as Martin McHugh on Highland Radio summed it up, “that’s modern football, Oisin”.

Armagh did go 0-4 to 0-1 clear by the 18th minute. Donegal, less fluid and less direct, just weren’t able to slip the ball off the shoulder as quickly and open up opportunities. As a result, the hosts held a comfortable four-point upperhand, 0-7 to 0-3, at the turnover.

Paddy Carr sent Donegal out early for the second half and it had an influence. Struggling to fashion openings running the ball, Donegal looked to go a little more direct with late first half replacement Hugh McFadden claiming and converting a fine mark. Indeed, McFadden’s deployment inside was one of the main reasons the visitors were able to drag themselves back into contention. ‘A good yellow card’, if there is such a thing, was then coughed up by Caolan McColgan or, as he was wrongly named as in the programme, Caolan McConagle.

On 50 minutes, further shoots of optimism presented themselves as Ciaran Thompson entered the fray and a rejuvenated looking McFadden made it a one-point game at 0-8 to 0-7.

The momentum was with Donegal now. Patient, prodding and looking for an opening, Thompson attempted to thread the needle but that ambitious pass was laced in rust and easily cut out by a relieved Armagh who broke, resulting in Murnin flicking over O’Neill’s undercooked effort.

With a storm seemingly weathered, Rory Grugan posted from a free to put three between the sides. And you just felt Armagh were comfortably out the other end now as O’Neill left it 0-11 to 0-7, five minutes out from full time.

Despite some seriously dubious refereeing calls, Donegal would dig deep to knock over the next three points and somehow manage to claw it back to a single point once more. In between, Ross McQuillan passed up on a golden goal chance that would have killed off all Donegal hope.

But, in the end, it was the hope that finally killed off Donegal when at 0-11 to 0-10, a wayward Mogan effort, when patience in possession was really called for, allowed Armagh to break and nab some breathing room through O’Neill.

Out of puff and out of ideas, Donegal were hit for another point in injury time as Kieran McGeeney’s men eventually crossed the line with three to spare.

A lacklustre first-half and some poor decision-making on the ball in the second were, Hugh McFadden summed up, the main reasons why Donegal suffered a third NFL loss from five.

So it wasn’t the managerial debacle and it wasn’t the Academy fiasco. It was some minor on-field mistakes that can be rectified. Supporters can influence the latter.

And another Donegal loss wasn’t the reason our car journey home was uncomfortable and subdued. No, that was the chicken and chips.