An alternative view: Sunshine, survival, scraps and suspensions

With Donegal’s record in Letterkenny, well, not the greatest down the years, the scheduling of a must-win last day outing against Armagh in the Allianz League Division 1 was, as the cynics might’ve suggested, a bit like taking Bambi to the ice-rink on a first date.

Monaghan had finally obliterated a 12-year, 21-match unbeaten run in Ballybofey, whilst Donegal had only won twice at Letterkenny’s O’Donnell Park in 15 years, with the most recent of them being eight years go and, in more recent times, a pretty consistent return of six defeats from six.

The good folk from St Eunan’s are a bit like the hotel who run the wedding. If the setting is perfect, the food exemplary and everything is laid on to a tee, it’s not really their fault if the lead singer of the band doesn't have a note in his head.
Armagh were promoted to Division 1 in 2020 and were almost semi-finalists last year when the divisions were split north and south to reduce travel in the midst of the pandemic.

The only reason they fell inches short was because of a 1-16 apiece draw with Donegal, secured by Niall O’Donnell in injury in the Athletic Grounds sun, with Declan Bonner’s side having scrambled back from four down with six to play and then clock-watching to play it out.

Kieran McGeeney’s side took heart from that and although their rise since his first term in 2015 has been steady rather than spectacular, took a massive following to Croke Park in late January of this year with their slightly mischievous ‘Garvaghy Road Orange Men On Tour Again’ banner.

A comprehensive and classy opening day win over Dublin set the tone for the season of both Armagh and Dessie Farrell’s side, so the orange-clad support rolled into Letterkenny free of the threat of relegation - a feat shared with only two other top-flight teams on Sunday, them being Kerry and Mayo. Basically, they had nothing to lose.

For those who remember Armagh in their pulp, they always travelled in huge numbers and every last one of them looked bulky and always wore their county jersey - whether it be at a match, a music festival or a first holy communion.

Back in those days, the Armagh players’ jerseys looked painted on a muscular frame, with the likes of Donegal looking boney in their baggy shirts.

The Donegal of 2022, alongside Tyrone, Dublin, Kildare and Monaghan, were fighting to stay afloat. March sunshine can be as deceptive as showing early-season form, but there was a genuine heat, which brought a sniff of a championship feel to the air in Letterkenny on Sunday, with queues throughout the town from early morning dotted here and there.

Even out Ballymacool, from before 12 noon - almost two hours prior to throw-in - there were strings of people basking in the sunshine, lining up at the hill approaching O’Donnell Park long before a key was turned. The crowd would eventually make 5,650.

Same dominant teams, outdated provincial structures with the reintroduction of safety nets has led to a series of proposals, greens and reds, on how to reignite the spark of the football championship.

The Allianz Leagues, though, stunt that trend. Barring perhaps the Ulster championship, the league is consistently the most watchable of all GAA competitions, with margins thinner than the blade on a butcher’s steak knife.

Sunday, as it turned out, was as dramatic as you can get. But a bit like the golfing fanatic who attends the final day of a major, being in attendance would mean you’d catch a glimpse of some of that with your own eyes, although there would be a strong reliance on hearsay to fill in the blanks.

As the respective panels warmed up shortly after one o’clock there were a few announcements from the man with the mic sitting pitchside, former Donegal Oifigeach Chultúrtha agus Teaga, Fergus McGee. Fergus, rather predictably, informed all that the stand was now full, and then, rather unpredictably, told us Donegal would line out as per programme.

Then, not sure if predictable or not - actually, definitely the latter - let it be known that “burgers are available from beyond the main stand priced at €2.50, with tea, coffee and other refreshments … and burgers, which are priced at €5,” which, even in terms of recent inflationary rises, seemed a little bit severe considering the price had doubled in the length of time it took to finish a sentence.

Mind you, when the electricity bills start rolling in, you’ll soon get that same sinking feeling you currently experience when you’re standing in a forecourt of a petrol station, thinking the price of that fill-up surely couldn’t be right. Maybe, a fiver for a burger wasn’t the worst deal.

That same match programme informed anyone who decided to put their hand in their pocket - something you are permitted to do to buy a match programme yet you cannot do to purchase a match ticket - that Armagh were actually the visitors when O’Donnell Park was officially opened in May, 1937.

“The occasion was notable through the presence and participation of several distinguished figures, headed by the Lord Bishop of the Diocese, who attended, at personal inconvenience, to give his benediction to the opening of the Park,” read part of the intriguing extract from The Donegal Democrat at the time.

The crowd - back in 2022 now - almost exclusively short-sleeved, showing great colour of orange and gold, was perfect for the sun to bounce off. McGeeney, making telling switches beforehand, opted to leave out Connaire Mackin, Rory Grugan and Rian O’Neill, with Oisin O’Neill not involved at all.

The Armagh manager doesn’t strike you as a handbrake kind of guy, so maybe he was content enough with what his side had produced to that point, with one eye on their imminent return to Donegal for the Ulster SFC in just four weeks’ time.
Donegal have produced phases of play in matches this term that could leave you admiring their brilliance, or worrying patterns that mean you’re scratching your head with a little befuddlement. In Letterkenny though, they started in style.

Michael Murphy was dropping deep and although there are plenty who don’t approve of overusing that strategy, with the lively Jamie Brennan and Patrick McBrearty inside as moving targets who could split and peel the orange, the Donegal captain was a willing play-maker.

Jason McGee came onto a Ryan McHugh pass to drive home a Donegal goal and when Caolan Ward got forward to punch over the crossbar on the half-hour, it made for a 1-7 to 0-4 lead, which, considering the minefield and the constant changings in Clones, Killarney and Carrick-on-Shannon, seemed huge.

With survival the rawest of life’s instincts, there wasn’t one mention all day as to who might make the Division 1 final, yet there was a slot-machine style spin, which changed as fast as the one-armed-bandit machines do as the coins drop, of which two unfortunates were in the drop zone.

Two minutes before the break, Shaun Patton opted to punch a dropping ball from Jarlath Óg Burns. And although the goalkeeper got a good connection, a Ben Crealey fetch was worked from Tiernan Kelly to Aidan Nugent to the back of Donegal’s net. It meant Armagh were within five at the break, 1-10 to 1-5 down.

McGeeney, at the break, showed no signs of that handbrake and put his foot on the accelerator, introducing O’Neill and Grugan, with Mackin having been already been sprung after James Morgan had come out the worst in a firm, as Phil Coulter might sing, ‘shoulder-to-shoulder’ with Murphy.

You got the sense that Armagh’s eyes weren’t on a league final against Kerry, yet that animalistic part of them, completely understandable in the heat of battle, wasn’t willing to let Donegal get too far ahead of themselves a month before Ulster. You can delve into all the tactical theology you wish, but sometimes it’s just a matter of “feck this, give it a rattle hiy.”

Five minutes into the second half, Donegal didn’t appear too rattled, with Murphy improvising to land a fantastic River End score whilst completely off balance and getting landed on as he hit the ground. Then McBrearty, having a fine game, steered over to re-establish the six-point lead, 1-12 to 1-6.

At the other end of the pitch, Brendan McCole, Donegal’s full-back and perhaps most consistently good performer this year, was running around bare-chested. His jersey was torn from top to almost bottom, yet on he went, unperturbed.

Photographic evidence would later show O’Neill and Andrew Murnin were the tuggers and when McCole was instructed to change due to blood, on came Neil McGee, Donegal’s record appearance holder of 193 appearances, having debuted, some will tell you, before the Berlin Wall was erected. The Gaoth Dobhair defender was greeted to a loud ovation coming on.

He beelined for the perpetrators of McCole’s incident, laid down a few things firmly although not quite on the Oscar-night performance level of Will Smith and Chris Rock, got booked, and was immediately replaced to an even louder ovation. Unlike the Lord Bishop of the Diocese in 1937, McGee wasn’t in attendance at his personal inconvenience.

Joking aside, it showed that there's no harm with the occasional enforcement being laid down. Armagh were developing a head of steam. Donegal were losing theirs, going almost 21 minutes without a score with Murphy steering a penalty wide when Brennan was taken out by an absurd challenge by Crealey.

In 2018, Bonner’s first year of his second tenure, Donegal on the last day were bobbing along all afternoon just above the line of relegation and seemingly safe, until Mayo’s Kevin McLoughlin took 12 steps, pointed for a draw and within seconds the full time whistle had shrilled.

Donegal were down. It was a bit like the poor fella at the birthday party years ago who got caught playing musical chairs when he seemed to have everything in hand. O’Neill’s 45 got Armagh level in injury time and Crealey then missed a chance that might well have won it for the increasingly vociferous visitors.

At that exact moment in time, who knows what that would’ve led to in the greater picture, although McBrearty, from an Ethan O’Donnell pass, stuck over the winner for 1-14 to 1-13 win for Donegal. Was it ever not going to go to the wire?

If you were a boxing promoter the end of match scenes would’ve been the perfect pay-per-view promotion for the upcoming Ulster clash and on RTÉ’s League Sunday, it was the sole focus for the ‘analysis’.

The highlights programme at no stage captured the excitement of the day, with Dublin and Kildare falling and Tyrone and Monaghan joining Donegal in surviving. The pictures at the end were unnecessary in something a little more than a scuffle, although a little less than a scrap.

We have since learned are the Famous Five are banned. The only thing we know for certain is when the sides meet again the temperature will be even hotter. And that is what championship is all about.