“We left everything out there and got reward” - Eddie Crawford
“I told the boys at half-time, even when we were down four points, this game isn’t over. I said ‘big names don’t win games, big hearts do’, and we have that in abundance.”
That was how manager, Eddie Crawford, summed up Donegal Masters All-Ireland final win over Dublin in a game for the ages in Lacken, Cavan on Saturday.
“We tweaked a few things by putting Paddy (McNulty) inside and it was a good move, but listen it wasn’t good for the heart.”
Donegal managed to come back from seven down in the second half to force extra-time and it then went to sudden death with Paddy McNulty the hero twice, first taking the game to extra-time with a last gasp goal and then scoring the winning point in sudden death.
“There were some big moments, Karl O’Brien’s save to deny (Bernard) Brogan a goal and Brian’s (McLaughlin) goal, a class finish. He might be close to 50 but he still knows where the goals are,” says Crawford, who added that when Dublin missed those chances in sudden death, he felt it was Donegal’s day.
“But listen, it’s such a good feeling. I know at the end of last year when Tyrone beat us, we were down. But this is a great bunch of lads, very honest. They come to training on Wednesday nights and it’s all about them boys.”
It’s been a wonderful year, played eight, won eight. “It was heart and honesty and that’s what you need. They emptied the tanks and I’m so proud of them. It’s a nice feeling to win an All-Ireland. And the way it was won in the end, that’s a game that will never be forgotten.
“We trained as hard as any club team in Donegal and it stood to us today, some 86 minutes out there.”
And what about the Donegal hero, Paddy McNulty. Crawford said McNulty had told him at the start of the season that he couldn’t commit because of other commitments. “But half-way through I gave him a ring and asked if he would be interested. He said ‘leave it with me Eddie’. He came back and I’m glad he did. He’s a class act.”
On the way home the team stopped in Britton’s in Pettigo and at one stage Eddie Crawford was away in a quiet corner, looking at highlights on his phone and just trying to make sense of what was a momentous day.