Donegal made to work by Fermanagh in Nickey Rackard opener

Donegal veteran Declan Coulter got those vital late points as favourites Donegal stuttered to a six-point victory over 14-man Fermanagh in an entertaining affair studded with some superb scores in O’Donnell Park. 

Donegal 1-21 Fermanagh 0-18 

Coulter hit four points on the trot to steer his side through a choppy encounter. And, while the home side just about deserved this victory, Fermanagh can point to two major turning points. 

The first came in the 25th minute when Erne corner forward Brian Teehan was given a straight red card for an apparent off the ball incident. Referee James Judge sent off the Tipperary native after consulting with his officials although very few seemed to see the alleged incident. 

The second one came in the 40th minute when the losers were leading by 0-14 to 0-9. Donegal were awarded a controversial sideline, which was gathered by Liam McKinney on the edge of the square and the Burt marksman rifled the ball to the net to cut the margin to just two points. 

And even though Luca McCusker stretched the lead to three points, Donegal were growing in stature. Matters got testy as referee Judge briefly lost his grip on proceedings and Ritchie Ryan and Ryan Bogue were both yellow carded, with Bogue a bit fortunate not to be getting a red. 

But the momentum was gradually swinging Donegal’s way as they threw on Bernard Lafferty, Conor Gartland, Gerry Gilmore and Gavin Browne for the second half. 

Fermanagh worked hard and managed to stay in the match as Conor Gartland put Donegal into a 1-14 to 0-16 lead for the first time since the eighth minute as the tension mounted as the game drew to a close. 

Donegal had loads of chances but hit a frustrating 14 wides, eight coming in the second half. 

But the extra legs and the extra man told for Donegal in those final minutes as four points in a row from Declan Coulter sealed the deal for Donegal.   

Donegal rocketed from the blocks with Danny Cullen finding Coulter who swept over a point from 50 metres in just ten seconds. That set the tone for six points in five minutes with Cullen and marksman Liam McKinney swapping points with Fermanagh’s Dannan McKeogh, Luca McCusker and John Paul McGarry by the sixth minute. McKinney and Ronan McDermott made it 0-6 to 0-4 in real entertaining end to end stuff. 

But Fermanagh were crowding Donegal in the middle third as they hit a real purple patch and reeled off six points in a row from long range - the pick of them coming from Danny Teague who had a superb solo effort. Donegal looked shell-shocked as they trailed by 0-10 to 0-6 and then Teehan was lined. 

Donegal were emboldened and Cullen got their first point in ten minutes to cut the gap to three and Daire O’Maoileidigh and Jack O’ Loughlin made it the minimum margin as half time beckoned. 

But McCusker was in deadly form from frees and he and the impressive Sean Corrigan put Fermanagh into a 0-13 to 0-9 lead at the break. 

But the Ernesiders could only manage five more points in the entire second half as Mickey McCann ran his strong bench and eventually made the extra man count and Fermanagh wilted. 

And the game turned inexorably when McKinney scored that cracking goal and Donegal applied the pressure. 

But it took all of Coulter’s coolness to guide them to a victory that will have posed a few questions as they face two tricky away assignments in Armagh and Roscommon in the next two weeks. 

Donegal scorers: Liam McKinney 1-5,2f; Declan Coulter 0-5,1f; Danny Cullen 0-2; Ruairi Campbell 0-2; Ronan McDermott 0-1; Daire O’Maoileidigh 0-1; Luke White 0-1; Gerry Gilmore 0-1; Ruairi Campbell 0-2; Conor Gartland 0-1.            

Fermanagh scorers; Luca McCusker 0-9,8f; Sean Corrigan 0-4; Danny Teague 0-3; JP McGarry 0-1; Dannan McKeogh 0-2.  

Donegal: Luke White: Stephen McBride, Michael Donaghue, Padraig Doherty; Danny Cullen Jack O’Loughlin, Christopher McDermott; Declan Coulter, Brian McIntyre; Stephen Gillespie, Liam McKinney, Ronan McDermott; Daire O’Maoileidigh Ritchie Ryan, Ruairi Campbell. 

Subs: Conor Gartland and Bernard Lafferty for Daire O’Maoileidigh and Stephen Gillespie (h-time), Gerry Gilmore for Ritchie Ryan (55),Gavin Browne for Stephen McBride (68)  

Fermanagh: Mark Curry; Dylan Bannon, Rory Porteus, Odhran Johnston; Aidan Flanagan, Ryan Bogue, Daniel Teague; Caolan Duffy, Ciaran Duffy; Luca McCusker, Sean Corrigan, John Paul McGarry; Danann McKeogh, Francis McBrien, Brian Teehan. 

Subs: Ronan McGurn for Aidan Flanagan (11), Ben Corrigan for Danann McKeogh (41), Ciaran Breslin for Odhran Johnson (58) Ultan O’Reilly for Ronan McGurn (66) 

Referee: James Judge (Mayo).