An Alternative View: A confidence-booster after the long long trip from Clare to here

Fair play to the old Google, which, after a wait of just 0.59 seconds produced 10,300,000 results to inform us that, in fact, Ralph McTell wrote ‘From Clare to Here’.

Apologies to Foster and Allen, who didn’t, and sorry too for the distinct lack of knowledge on the topic. So, after a 600 kilometre, or 374 -mile, seven hour and 22-minute round trek - give or take the 0.59 seconds on the search engine and the compulsory Ballindine pitstops - we’ve learned that ‘My Lovely Rose Of Clare’ is actually a completely different song.

So in regards to the ballads, we weren’t too sure, just like many of us weren’t too sure about where Donegal were following a limp Division 1 campaign that ended in relegation and the uninspiring exit in Ulster against Down. And, of course, there’s a shadow over the rather alarming state of affairs taking place off the field.

Declan Bonner’s tenure ended last year with the narrow Ulster final loss against Derry and then the obliteration by Armagh in the qualifiers and since then there’s been a couple of managers, a spate of retirements, withdrawals and injuries.

When you peel it back, even from those available in 2022, you could name a pretty competitive team from those who weren’t down to start in Clare - Michael Lynch in goal; a full-back line of Stephen McMenamin, Neil McGee and Odhran McFadden Ferry, with Peadar Mogan, Paul Brennan and Ryan McHugh in the half-backs.

Midfield could be made up of Michael Langan and Jason McGee, who was down to start on the bench against Clare, with a half-forward line of Niall O’Donnell, Shane O’Donnell and Jeaic Mac Ceallabhuí, in behind Patrick McBrearty, Michael Murphy and Aaron Doherty, with the likes of Ethan O’Donnell also involved last year.

Donegal - the 2023 version - were in a fragile place and for Clare, who appeared in a Munster final although had no reason not to milk the cows for the week after a 14-point hammering by Kerry, there was an opportunity. It’s been frequently remarked that in this new 12 go through from 16 stage of the All-Ireland series that it’s tougher to get knocked out than stay in.
Things, as they say, tend to get worse before they get better and that was the case in Ennis for Donegal.

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 this new round of 16 thingy, but we’d have expected a little more than this.

At Cusack Park, there was a nervousness in the air, with two teams of brittle confidence. Clare’s scars from the Kerry trouncing and Donegal’s, from the nightmare of a year, were evident. Since Bonner’s last match 11 months ago, Donegal have had more managers than victories with their one success in that time under Paddy Carr, before O’Rourke was handed control.

Since beating Cavan in last year’s Ulster semi-final, there had been three managers, one win, one draw and 10 losses.
That win over Kerry in late January came courtesy of a McBrearty special and the Donegal captain has been an absentee since the following outing in Omagh with a hamstring tear.

It’s probably not how he would’ve envisaged his role of captaincy when passed the mantle, although on Saturday, he offered a positive, vocal encouragement from start to finish as he sat with the Donegal substitutes

But for a smart save from Shaun Patton, who scampered to block at Keelan Sexton’s feet on 20 minutes, the gap from Donegal to Clare might’ve been even longer. Pearse Lillis and Eoin Cleary had also got on the scoreboard for the home side, while at the other end, only Ciarán Thompson had with half an hour played. It was, for Donegal, a bleak opening, although they did manage to click on a couple of occasions late in the half.

Eoghan Ban Gallagher and Oisin Gallen’s late scores in part one meant Clare’s lead at half-time was 0-6 to 0-3, by which time Podge Collins had hobbled off. The consensus at the break, certainly from the home support, was that Clare’s lead should've been more, although fact could counter opinion - the wide count was six apiece and the home side’s goal chance was cancelled out by an unfortunate miss from John Ross Molloy at the other end.

Either way, from a Donegal perspective, it’s certainly a fair assumption that their first half showing wasn’t good enough and a marked improvement would be needed to swerve this banana skin. Goalscoring has been a problem for Donegal this year, with only two now in league and championship - Gallen’s penalty against Galway in Letterkenny and then McGee’s early one against Down.

None in Ennis either, although at the interval they got in lane to plan on how they could take the corner and pass Clare out.
In the second half, O’Rourke’s young team, one that included three championship first-time starters in Ardara’s Molloy, Rory O’Donnell from Milford and Naomh Conaill’s Odhran Doherty, drew on the more experienced players, with Thompson, Hugh McFadden, half-time replacement McGee, Gallagher, Gallen and Caolan McGonagle, all rolling their sleeves up. It took a bit of time but the turning of the tide was becoming that little bit clearer.

Donegal were owning more of the ball and Clare’s few chances weren’t being taken. Emmet McMahon got their first point of the second half on 47 minutes, although wides at both ends deflated the spectacle, and it was still there for both with the clock ticking down, at 0-7 to 0-7.

Donegal hit seven more scores in the last 12 minutes, with McFadden’s getting them in front for the first time.
Clare were stacking up the wides and only managed three points in the second half, with Darragh Bohannon and Aaron Griffin hitting late scores.

At the other end, Donegal, more direct and showing more legs than were considered to be lacking in Newry, kept the scoreboard going with Gallen, Thompson, McGonagle, Luke McGlynn and O’Donnell. Donegal, to their credit, won the second half 0-11 to 0-3 in their 0-14 to 0-9 win and their late succession of scores was as good as anything this year, as they moved without inhibition and with plenty of guile.

McGee’s introduction was telling, beefing things up in the middle third, enabling McFadden and McGonagle in particular to be freed up as well as providing the excellent Patton with a target when going long. The only time Clare really got to grips with the Cloughaneely midfielder was in a late roly-poly when substitute Ikem Ugwueru tore his shirt.

McGee, full-on Tarzan mode by now, was decked in a replacement jersey, the No 9 one which O’Donnell hadn’t worn in accordance with the matchday programme. This, in turn, proved to be something of an issue for those who scurredly pen the captions for the photographs afterwards. Never mind Eamon, nobody tells Jason McGee what to do.

Certainly a confidence-booster of a victory when one was needed and with the new lie of the land such a win means Donegal, no matter what, aren’t far off a place in the last 12 and have a free go at Derry and Monaghan. Clare will fight on for a scalp, although the best chance of one of them - from their only home fixture - might’ve passed them by.

While the locals trundled towards the exit gates saying they were always more concerned with the Munster hurling clash against Cork at the same venue 24 hours later, Donegal’s players made their way off the field. They were deserving of their wide smiles, the pats on the back as they mingled for selfies with some of those who had made the journey and stood by the team throughout.

It made you realise, if it was even needed that deep down, that whatever anyone’s role, that people do care. As Michael Murphy said on retirement: “Donegal will always have a team.”

Some of those involved who spoke afterwards, like Thompson and coach Paddy Bradley, said they’d effectively gone into pre-season to rebuild following Down. “I would urge the Donegal support to stay loyal to this team,” Bradley said in his post-match interview.

“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.”

Donegal’s support, for a multitude of reasons, has dwindled considerably in recent times. There were - although it must be stressed these whispers are unconfirmed and more off-the-record than on it - that some clubs didn’t receive an order for so much as one ticket for Newry or Ennis.

That, in no small part, could be in line with the greater sense of dissatisfaction with a series of things that have happened and are happening off the field. There’s an independent review due to conclude at the end of May to ascertain as to how we ended up here.

The findings of that review may be satisfactory and they may well not be, but the ball will then - as always - be in the clubs’ court, with a couple of motions having had the pause button pressed, with the possibility of more accruing. 

Derry come to Ballybofey the weekend after next as back-to-back Ulster champions and the nature of the rivalries in the claustrophobic and competitive province is that, regardless of current stance, nobody is ever too intimidated by the other. For Donegal, the level of expectation and pressure shouldn’t be as high now.



On the field, all O’Rourke, Bradley and their young panel can do is continue their focus and try to build on their win in Clare, which, although far from flawless against a team demoted from Division 2, was a commendable one in the end.Bring on Derry. See what happens. There’s a little spring in the step now, whereas a loss in Ennis and it really would’ve meant a long, long way from Clare to here.