5.
2006 All-Ireland quarter-final August 5Donegal 1-10 Cork 1-11Certainly, one that got away. Following on from Brian McEniff's fifth and final tenure as Donegal manager, Brian McIver was the man in charge in 2006 and his side showed form in Ulster before losing out to Armagh for the fifth time in five seasons. Rory Kavanagh, first in the panel in 2001, scored 1-2 on his first championship start against Down in the Ulster SFC quarter-final in a 1-12 to 1-11 win and Donegal continued that form to defeat Derry 1-11 to 0-11, with Kavangh scoring five and Michael Doherty 1-4, with the 22-year-old from Four Masters forward left with both knee and facial injuries after he collided with Derry's Paul Cartin. Having lost the provincial final 1-9 to 0-9 against the Orchard County, Donegal overcome Fermanagh 0-11 to 0-8 in the fourth round qualifier to set up a date with Munster champions Cork. With the fixture moved to August Bank Holiday Saturday at 4pm to accommodate the travelling Cork support, played after Kerry's win over Armagh, Donegal started excellently, leading 1-5 to 0-0 with Christy Toye the goalscorer. But James Masters and Fintan Goold reduced the gap to two by the break, after John Hayes had netted a 12th-minute penalty for Cork. Level at 1-10 apiece with eight to play, it was Cork who scored the winner, through centre-back Ger Spillane two minutes into injury time.“In the second half we dominated for long spells and had the majority of possession but again we couldn’t work the scores," McIver said afterwards. We had a chance in the end for a draw but it just wasn’t to be."
6.
2009 All-Ireland quarter-final August 2Donegal 2-10 Cork 1-27Donegal, by 2009, were still up and down and were stripped bare by Cork in the All-Ireland quarter-final. Following on from John Joe Doherty's side's relegation from Division 1 and disastrous 1-10 to 0-12 loss at home to Antrim in Ulster, things were low. The fall-out from the loss to Liam Bradley's side saw a players' stand-off with the local media, although on the pitch, step-by-step, things did improve, slowly. Donegal went in level with Carlow, 0-6 to 1-3, at the break in the first of the qualifiers, before goals from Rory Kavanagh and Conall Dunne sealed a 2-13 to 1-9 and when Clare came to Ballbofey, Christy Toye suffered a serious Achilles injury as Donegal won 0-13 to 1-7. However, Donegal came to life with a brilliant 2-13 to 0-18 extra-time victory over Derry with Michael Murphy, still only 19, putting in a top-class showing and Kevin Cassidy hitting the vital goal and would seal a last eight spot thanks to a battling 0-14 to 0-13 success in Sligo against Galway.In ways, the season was mirroring the 2003 campaign, with Donegal capable of anything, but they were battered by Cork at Croke Park, with the Munster champions running in a record score for a football match at the venue. Trailing 0-13 to 0-3 at the break, Donegal fell further behind when Paul Kerrigan netted for Cork. Goals from Kavanagh and Stephen Griffin did little to ease the pain as Donegal left with their tails between their legs. “Cork started very well, they were very lively and by half-time the game was over - there is no point in saying anything else,” Doherty said an honest appraisal of what had gone before.
7.
2011 All-Ireland quarter-final July 30Donegal 1-12 Kildare 0-14 - after extra-timeWith Donegal trailing Kildare 0-5 to 0-3 in what looked like a fairly limp All-Ireland quarter-final as the floodlights were turned on at Croke Park, nobody would've thought of the drama that was about to unfold. In Jim McGuinness's first year at the helm, Donegal won a first Ulster SFC in 19 years, following an 0-11 to 0-8 success over Derry, after earlier wins over Antrim, Cavan, and tellingly, Tyrone. For many, winning the Anglo-Celt might've been considered the end of the road for Donegal, especially since they were paired with Kieran McGeeney's Kildare, who were a whisper away from a place in the previous year's All-Ireland final, only to be denied when Robert Kelly's rasping free-kick cannoned off the crossbar as James McCartan's Down won out 1-16 to 1-14.When Donegal rolled into Croke Park to face Kildare, Michael Murphy took the team behind the parade and made his way to the bench, struggling with a hamstring strain. He would enter the fray come the 27th minute and Donegal got going in the second half, with Christy Toye - making his first appearance in 25 months - scoring a goal at Hill 16 having not broken stride since being introduced. That came after Tomás O’Connor had a goal ruled out for a square ball infringement, and it was blow for blow, with Kildare's Johnny Doyle being kept scoreless for the first time in 50 championship outings. Kildare led by three in extra-time but Donegal, with Eamon McGee and Neil Gallagher making their first impacts under the new manager, clung in with Murphy scoring two in a minute and Toye restoring parity in injury time. That looked like another day out, before Kevin Cassidy scored a point for the ages in the game's final attack and Donegal had won in the most dramatic fashion.“Jim said ‘you’re going in there now, I want you to make a run towards goal’,” said Toye. “I did that and lucky enough the play went straight after I came on and thankfully I got on it. The
8.
2012 All-Ireland quarter-final August 5Donegal 1-12 Kerry 1-10Having lost out in one of the most unconventional games of football ever played in the 2011 All-Ireland semi-final against Dublin, 0-8 to 0-6, Donegal returned fitter, faster and stronger in 2012 and emphatically retained the Ulster SFC, defeating Down 2-18 to 0-13 in the final in Clones.However, the ultimate test awaited in the last eight, a first-ever championship meeting with Kerry on Patrick McBrearty's 19th birthday. Given top billing of the four All-Ireland quarter-finals, Donegal, courtesy of a fortuitous sixth-minute goal from Colm McFadden from a sideline ball, gained an early foothold and were completely comfortable in their surroundings and with their opponents. Leading 1-4 to 0-5 at half-time, Donegal dominated the third quarter and went six up thanks to McFadden's free with six to play. But there was a string in Kerry, with Kieran Donaghy's slapping home a goal - the first Donegal had conceded in championship football that year - and points followed from Paul Galvin and Anthony Maher scoring to leave one in it. Karl Lacey, though, got onto a Paul Durcan kick-out and pass from Rory Kavanagh to seal the deal. Donegal would go on to win Sam Maguire."Ultimately, Donegal outfought, out-thought and outran Kerry in their first-ever championship meeting, just as they had privately felt they could do," Colm Keys wrote in the Irish Independent. "A two-point margin of victory at the end didn’t do justice to their dominance, their ability to control the game for long patches. It is a wonderful coaching achievement for Jim McGuinness to have taken this team to a second successive All-Ireland semi-final, courtesy of back-to-back Ulster titles."