Donegal prevail in absorbing arm wrestle to see off Tyrone and reach Ulster final

Donegal wriggled away from Tyrone in an absorbing Ulster semi-final at Celtic Park.

Even the face of the Guildhall, the iconic masterpiece set back in Derry's city centre, seemed to keep its focus on this one.

For a while, it seemed as if it would be never ending. The capacity audience of 14,714 at Celtic Park would hardly have argued if that had been the case.

The teams were level ten times before Donegal eventually booked a place in the county's 11th Ulster final in 14 years

For a brief moment, penalties were a rather distinct possibility. Until, that was, Patrick McBrearty nailed the bullseye from out on the right-hand side.

It was an arrow that finally broke Tyrone's resistance. Tyrone were in an extra time tussle for the second Sunday in a row and it ultimately took a heavy toll.

Deep in the trenches, Donegal full-back Brendan McCole clipped over his first Championship point to force extra time.

When Jeaic Mac Ceallabhui fisted over two minutes into the extra period, it was the first time Donegal saw the lead since Niall O'Donnell opened the scoring a little over an hour-and-a-half earlier.

Shane O'Donnell scuttled forward and, also with his fist, put Donegal 0-17 to 0-16 ahead after the first half of extra time.

That was that as the wrists of the arm wrestle went back-and-forth before McBrearty finally slammed the Red Hand on the table to seal an Ulster final meeting with Armagh.

Since McGuinness's departure following the 2014 All-Ireland final defeat by Kerry, Tyrone had regained an upper hand, winning five of the eight subsequent meetings.

Last year, Donegal succumbed to a 1-18 to 0-13 preliminary quarter-final loss, after which Aidan O'Rourke stepped away having been interim manager following Paddy Carr's departure earlier in the year.

This was a different Donegal, certainly, on a day when the drizzles of rain could barely get between the sides.

Oisin Gallen beautifully swung over a 45-metre free and, almost instantly, Ciaran Thompson levelled the scores for the fourth time in the 22^nd minute.

That Donegal brace arrived after a brilliant Ciaran Daly score at the other end. The pass from his goalkeeper, Niall Morgan, was every bit as impressive as Daly's clinical conversion. The Trillick man elected against taking the forward mark and slammed over for a two-point lead.

Niall O'Donnell fired over Donegal's opener in the fifth minute, but they had to come from behind to level three times during a cagey first half.

Time beat Shaun Patton's race against a leg injury that forced his withdrawal from the quarter-final win over Derry.

St Naul's man Gavin Mulreany, who deputised ably for the last 15 minutes against Derry, came in for his first Championship start.

After Ciaran Thompson restored party with a fine 22^nd minute score, Donegal didn't trouble the scoreboard operator again until Jason McGee stroked over three minutes into the second half.

It is 11 years now since Niall Morgan had a nightmare visit to Ballybofey, spurning a series of placed balls against McGuinness's Donegal. Then, Morgan cupped his ears after converting an early free – a gesture that would come back to haunt him.

The cat calls whistled here as Morgan lined up a free in the 28^th minute, but he was the picture of cool as he arrowed between the sticks.

While Morgan was off target moments later from around 55m, having had distance but not accuracy, Tyrone – with Darragh Canavan and Cathal McShane registering – were 0-8 to 0-5 ahead, a lead they would hold at the interval.

Seven days beforehand, Tyrone also had to go through the mill in extra time after Cavan stormed back from eight points down.

Eventually, the Red Hands staved off the stirring Breffni fightback to win 1-23 to 3-16. They squeezed in by the skins of their teeth having looked to have blown the door down at one stage.

Liam Gray, scorer of a debut goal last weekend, was absent entirely from the roster here, but McShane was included from the start.

By half-time, Donegal posted six wides and dropped another two short.

Donegal captain McBrearty was withdrawn at half-time. McBrearty was unable to start the win over Derry and his involvement was cut here only for the Kilcar man to return in extra time.

Within six minutes of the restart, a Jason McGee double had Donegal right back breathing heavily on the Tyrone necks.

Another long-range Morgan free kept Tyrone in front, but Donegal were beginning to ask the necessary questions.

Daire Ó Baoill, whose pair of goals paved the way to victory over Derry, brought Donegal level, 0-9 apiece, only for Tyrone to hit three in two minutes via Morgan – from a 45-metre free – Daly and Canavan.

Michael McKernan inched Tyrone in front after a trio of Donegal points, off the boots of Peadar Mogan, Caolan McGonagle and Gallen.

The sides were level for the seventh time when Thompson floated over a free but, with the call going over the public address system for the stewards to take up their end-of-match placements, Canavan popped over a free.

With the foam frothing from the pot, Donegal sent the game to extra time. Ryan McHugh carved an opening, McCole picked up the pieces to score, clipping over after Aaron Doherty's effort was superbly saved by Morgan in an utterly frenetic finish.

In extra time, Donegal – despite kicking 15 wides over the duration of the contest – outscored by four points to two.

To Clones, then, in two weeks' time. Kieran McGeeney and Armagh await.

Donegal scorers: Oisin Gallen 0-3f; Jason McGee, Daire Ó Baoill, Niall O'Donnell, Ciaran Thompson (1f), Patrick McBrearty (1f) 0-2 each; Peadar Mogan, Caolan McGonagle, Brendan McCole, Jeaic Mac Ceallabhui, Shane O'Donnell 0-1 each.

Tyrone scorers: Darragh Canavan (1f, 1m) 0-4; Niall Morgan 0-3f; Darren McCurry 0-2f; Ciaran Daly, Michael McKernan 0-2 each; Sean O'Donnell, Cathal McShane, Mattie Donnelly 0-1 each.

Donegal: Gavin Mulreany; Mark Curran, Brendan McCole, Ciaran Moore; Ryan McHugh, Caolan McGonagle, Peadar Mogan; Jason McGee, Michael Langan; Shane O'Donnell, Ciaran Thompson, Daire Ó Baoill; Patrick McBrearty, Oisin Gallen, Niall O'Donnell. Subs: Aaron Doherty for McBrearty (half-time), Jamie Brennan for Ó Baoill (48), Jeaic Mac Ceallabhui for Curran (70+2), McBrearty, Ó Baoill and Caolan McColgan for Doherty, Brennan and Moore (full-time, normal time), Doherty for Gallen (half-time, extra time), Brennan for N.O'Donnell (88).

Tyrone: Niall Morgan; Conal Devlin, Padraig Hampsey, Michael McKernan; Sean O'Donnell, Mattie Donnelly, Niall Devlin; Brian Kennedy, Conn Kilpatrick; Ciaran Daly, Kieran McGeary, Michael O'Neill; Darren McCurry, Darragh Canavan, Cathal McShane. Subs: Aidan Clarke for Devlin (41), Ben Cullen for McGeary (63), Ruairi Canavan for O'Neill (76), Aodhan Donaghy and Cormac Donnelly for McShane and Kilpatrick (87).

Referee: Brendan Cawley (Kildare)