Bradley: 'I would urge the Donegal support to stay loyal to this team'

It’s been a while since the Donegal support stood to applaud a victory for their team on the road in the championship and the few hardy souls who made their way to Ennis shouldn’t be without credit. 

Donegal have endured a bleak year both on and off the pitch and at half-time at Cusack Park in Ennis, it looked like that sense of misery might deepen, three points down to Clare and not looking overly promising. Half-an-hour in, Aidan O’Rourke’s side trailed Clare by 0-5 to 0-1. The GAA didn’t quite promise us a whole new ball game with the introduction of this new round of 16 thingy, but we’d have looked for a little more than this.

Donegal turn it on in the second half to post confidence-boosting win in Clare

It took a while to settle, but Donegal showed well in the second half to post only their second win of 2023 and one that will give them something to cling onto ahead of their clash with Ulster SFC winners Derry in two weeks time

However, Donegal turned it around with a commendable second half, with Ciaran Thompson and Oisin Gallen kicking four each from play, while Caolan McGonagle and Eoghan Bán Gallagher drove on the team. It’s unusual to be handing out first-time starts midway through the championship, whatever the format and Odhran Doherty, John Ross Molloy and Rory O’Donnell were in from the off for the first time.

“I would urge the Donegal support to stay loyal to this team,” selector Paddy Bradley said afterwards. “There’s been a big change there with the retirements and the injuries. It’s a pretty new team. Every night I go to Convoy, I have to say I’m proud to be with these guys. 

“They really put the head down and show great desire. Yes, the results haven’t really been going our way but you have to remember there’s been a lot of serious injuries and players missed pre-season due to injury from last year. I really believe we’ve turned the corner and the way we finished that game showed that.”

Donegal kicked seven points in their 0-14 to 0-9 win over Clare and in many ways have a free go at Derry on matchday two in two weeks ago. 

“Those more experienced players really stood up and I’m delighted for them," Bradley added. "They took the Down loss to heart and it’s been like a pre-season ever since. They finished that game so strongly there. They’ve just got on with it so it’s great to see that.”