'I just blocked all the noise out': Aaron Doherty on Ulster final shoot-out glory

The penalty shoot-out to decide the Ulster final was flawless when Aaron Doherty stepped forward for a second time.

The Naomh Columba man, sent on as a substitute early in the second half when Donegal were trailing, riffled to the bottom corner, teeing up the moment for Shaun Patton to save from Shane McPartlan to confirm Donegal as champions.

Each time, Doherty fired to Blaine Hughes's bottom right corner at the O'Duffy Terrace end.

With the shoot-out deadlocked at 5-5, Donegal changed their order and Doherty made no mistake with his second spot kick.

“You just have to block all the thoughts out,” Doherty told Donegal Live. “You just have to know where you're putting the ball and just go for it. Thank God, it went in.

“I played a bit of soccer and I hit penalties for the club too. I was confident and I had the fresh legs too.

“I just blocked all the noise out. I knew where I was putting it and I just stuck with that. I just focussed on the strike and put momentum behind it.”

Doherty was previously on the books of Finn Harps and was carving out some possibilities. He had also played for St Catherine's and Letterbarrow Celtic and attended, alongside Killybegs' Ryan Cunningham, trials for the Republic of Ireland schoolboys team.

Daire Ó Baoill actually wore the captain's armband for the Paul Osam-managed Republic of Ireland Under-18s against Wales in 2015 and made a senior appearance for Finn Harps while another penalty scorer, Jason McGee, played for the Ireland Under-15s and trialled at Nottingham Forest in 2015.

Donegal has produced many notable dual stars over the years.

Had Sligo Rovers not come calling for Seamus Coleman, the Killybegs man seemed a certainty to have donned Donegal's colours.

Goalkeeper Patton – hero of the hour on Sunday with his save from McPartlan - also featured at underage level for Ireland and it was only in 2017, when he went full throttle with Declan Bonner's Donegal, that he threw his lot in with Gaelic football.

Hailing from Teelin, in the shadows of Sliab Liag in GAA heartland, Doherty always had his shirt tugged by the natives.

He was on the Donegal squad that lost the 2022 Ulster final to Derry after extra time and was absent for the 2”023 Championship before Jim McGuinness came calling.

He said: It's unreal. He gives every player that belief, an extra 10 per cent. It's unbelievable. It was such a tough job to take on after last year.

“He came in and he had belief on us all. We'll look forward now to the All-Ireland series after three mighty games under the belt.

“It's unbelievable. I was here two years ago in 2022 when Derry beat us in extra time. That was a horrible feeling. A lot of people in there have lost more than me, but we came on a real mission to win it.

“We had full belief and Jim had full belief in us. When you see the players that we have on the pitch, why wouldn't we be confident?”

Donegal had to reach deep on Sunday, twice finding themselves in arrears by four.

It was in those moments where the meticulous planning of McGuinness came to the fore.

“We didn't do anything different,” Dohery pointed out,

“We just stuck to the game plan. It paid dividends for us at the end up.

“They had momentum. We were four points down, but we were never going to give in until the last minute. It was the same against Tyrone when we were three down twice and we came back.

“This makes the hard work worthwhile. It was tough in pre-season, but once you get into the games, it's been thick and fast and so enjoyable.”