Donegal defeated again as Fermanagh on fire in second half in Letterkenny

Fermanagh ran Donegal ragged in the second half to come from four points down at half-time to win by three in O'Donnell Park, Letterkenny.

Donegal 0-10
Fermanagh 0-13
It was a sweet victory for Rory Gallagher's side, who remain unbaten in Division Two. They were superb, especially in the second half as they hit 0-9, 0-8 from play, against a very poor Donegal performance. Donegal could only manage two Michael Langan frees in that second period and looked completely rudderless at times.
Fermanagh showed the greater hunger throughout as Donegal were not helped by playing with 14 men for most of the game and 13 in the final 10 minutes. They had lost Caolan McMonagle in the second quarter with very few in the ground knowing what his second yellow card was for. His first had come minutes earlier.
In the final quarter Fermanagh were excellent in turning Donegal over and in half-back Ciaran Corrigan they had a star, as he finished with four superb points. Donegal then lost Stephen McMenamin to a black card and the sin bin for 10 minutes with just a little over 10 minutes left on the clock.
But overall, Donegal can have no excuses and there will be some post mortems after this second defeat in-a-row. They just didn't match Fermanagh for commitment. Some of the Fermanagh tactics in the opening half were border line as they got into the Donegal faces and came in with tackles after they committed fouls.
Donegal were slow to make changes and lacked a real cutting edge when needed in second half. They played a lot of lateral football and when they tried to play long, invariably they were turned over by a very tenacious Fermanagh team, who are now very much in the running for promotion, sitting top of the Division Two table alongside Meath.

GOOD START
Donegal started well with the opening two points on five minutes, Jamie Brennan notching the first and Michael Langan hooking over free from 45m.
Fermanagh, with all 15 back defending, got on the scoreboard through Conall Jones but Donegal stretched ahead 0-5 to 0-1 with points from Jason McGee, Oisin Gallen and a Ciaran Thompson free after Ryan McHugh was fouled.
But then Donegal were dealt a severe blow on 20 minutes when Caolan McGonagle picked up a second yellow card to reduce Donegal to 14.
Sean Quigley pointed a free and Ryan McHugh was denied a point when fouled. He had hit the target but the referee pulled the play back for a free, which came back off a post.
Ciaran Corrigan reduced the leeway to two but Donegal hit back with Niall O'Donnell involved as Jason McGee found the range and Eoghan Bán Gallagher tore through the middle to point.
Michael Langan landed another free to stetch the lead and Ryan McHugh should have added another as he was put through by Ciaran Thompson but he shot far too early and his effort went wide. It was a big turning point as from the kick-out Fermanagh went up field and a speculative shot into the area broke and Sean Quigley punched a point on the stroke of half-time.
Half-time: Donegal 0-8, Fermanagh 0-4.
There was an unusual incident at start of second half with five players (three Fermanagh and two Donegal) were yellow carded before ball was thrown in. The four midfielers were tugging and hauling but a third Fermanagh player came in.
Michael Langan had a Donegal free inside two minutes of the restart, but they would not score again until the 56th minute (their only other score of the half).
In between Fermanagh came back into the contest as they choked Donegal. The impressive Ciaran Corrigan hit two points while Sean Quigley cut the deficit to two on 50 minutes.
After Michael Langan had a second point from a free, Fermanagh responded with Aidan Breen from distance. Then Donegal suffered another blow as Stephen McMenamin was black carded and Sean Quigley pointed a free to leave just a point in it on 59 minutes.
A couple of minutes later substitute Paul McCusker had the sides level. With seven minutes left the impressive Ciaran Corrigan put Fermanagh ahead and Aidan Breen fisted another after a great run from corner back Jonny Cassidy.
Donegal missed a 20m free and were overturned on their next attack for Ultan Kelm to run the length of the pitch to fist another and a three point lead.
It was to be enough and the Maguire men went home with a famous win.

DONEGAL: Mark Anthony McGinley; Stephen McMenamin, Brendan McCole, Eoghan Bán Gallagher; Caolan Ward, Eamonn Doherty, Ryan McHugh; Hugh McFadden, Jason McGee (0-02); Niall O'Donnell, Ciaran Thompson (0-01,f), Caolan McGonagle; Oisin Gallen (0-01), Michael Langan (0-4,0-04f), Jamie Brennan (0-01) .
Subs., Paul Brennan for J McGee 51; Eoin McHugh for E Doherty 56; Leo McLoone for O Gallen 62; Peadar Mogan for Langan 72

FERMANAGH: Thomas Treacy; Jonny Cassidy, Lee Cullen, Kane Connor; Ultan Kelm (0-01), James McMahon, Ciaran Corrigan (0-04); Che Cullen, Ryan Jones; Ryan Lyons, Declan McCusker, Aidan Breen (0-02); Daniel Teague, Conall Jones (0-01), Sean Quigley (0-04,0-02f).
Subs., Kevin McDonnell for Teague 32; Paul McCusker (0-01) for R Lyons 44; Eamon McHugh for McDonnell 65; Ryan Lyons for Breen 72; Tiarnan Daly for J Cassidy 74

REFEREE: Padraig Hughes (Armagh)