Ulster SFC First round/ Donegal 1-15 Antrim 1-9: It was a slow-burning and diffident beginning to the championship for Donegal in Ballybofey yesterday. They beat Antrim with relative ease and set themselves up for a probable meeting with All-Ireland champions Tyrone in the Ulster semi-final, a game that will mark their first return to the high table of Gaelic football since last year's brave and narrow All-Ireland semi-final loss to Armagh.
Yesterday, 11,500 turned up at the county ground and left puzzled as to whether Brian McEniff's young team are capable of adapting to that accelerated climate of heart, touch and mind in three weeks' time. This Donegal team considers it a charm to keep their audience guessing. They did not fully engage their public on this first day out, with the muted crowd watching on as if waiting for a smoking bonfire to catch light.
Antrim's search for an away victory in Ulster will go into a 23rd year. Physically big and competitive, they made life awkward for Donegal in the first half but were completely outplayed in the second half, dressing the scoreboard with 1-2 in the last four minutes, scores that were partly attributable to Donegal passivity.
The first half, in which both teams scored four points, was as poor as could be imagined.
"Woeful," agreed McEniff with enthusiasm when that phrase was put to him.
"I felt there was a nervousness in the team, whether that was down to many of the boys being caught up in exams or because of a local and national expectation that we would blow Antrim away, I don't know."
Despite losing burly midfielder Mark McRory with a bad cut to the head just after the throw-in, Antrim worked like demons to spoil Donegal's build-up and swamped the lighter home team around the middle of the field. The novice pairing of Brian McLaughlin and Brendan Boyle got lost in the general traffic at times, with Antrim's Anto Finnegan, Gearóid Adams and Kevin McGourty keeping clearest heads in the general confusion.
Trying to work the ball through a crowd, Donegal resorted to individual pot shots and notched up eight wides. There was a heavy, dead atmosphere about the day that was redolent of Donegal's great vanishing against Fermanagh a year ago but although McEniff was not pleased by the first half he never sensed that his team were about to go into the void.
"It never entered my mind, no. What I was bothered about was that we weren't playing our game. And we did do that in the second half and took our scores and they did not. The support play was good. We brought Adrian (Sweeney) out a little bit and I did that for two reasons - to create a bit of space inside and also because he has been out of football for three weeks."
For the 30 minutes after half-time, Donegal owned the game. Kevin Cassidy, a lonesome exception in terms of bright aggression in the first half, led by example. The midfield pair recovered well, with Boyle growing into his senior role.
Michael Hegarty, a thoroughbred with a tendency to drift in and out of games, was a joy to watch. He dispatched two points from distance and nimbly ushered Donegal towards the daylight. Christy Toye cantered along the wings, full of casual skill. Sweeney, liberated from the edge of the square, gave Colm Brady an uncomfortable time and Devenney's final tally did not match the menace he presented.
McEniff stuck with the coltish young Colm McFadden when it was not going well for him and was rewarded with three points and the weighted hand-pass that set up Boyle for his first championship goal. It was a typically sweet and intricate Donegal movement, with the ball transferred at pace between Barry Monaghan, Stephen McDermott and McFadden before Boyle, thundering in on the goal, fisted home first time. That score, on 64 minutes, left it at 1-14 to 0-7 and a more ruthless team would have gone about adding salt before the final whistle. Donegal, though, all but unlaced their boots.
Big Darren O'Hare, an honest broker all afternoon, had the distinction of palming home Antrim's goal after Mark Dougan sent a ball in with two minutes remaining. It was a goal from nothing and put a gloss on the board from the visitors' perspective. But it could not mask the fact that Antrim, for all PJ O'Hare's endeavours, are slipping from the plateau they reached a couple of seasons ago.
"I suppose it was pleasing that we came back a bit," mused coach O'Hare later. "After half-time Donegal really took the game by the scruff of the neck. There were times in there that we just couldn't get the ball. It's something we will have to look at, standing back instead of putting our heads in where it hurts."
Although Donegal have the act of blossoming in summer down to a fine art the next three weeks are crucial. Their game seems tuned to a more delicate frequency than most teams'. Here, they could afford to tap into that at their leisure. That will not be the case next time. With Tyrone heavy favourites to overcome Fermanagh on Sunday next, McEniff is preparing for the critical early test of his season.
"I do expect Tyrone to come through and it's a very daunting task. They whipped our asses here in January by 18 points so I don't have to say much to the boys in terms of motivation. We will be going into that game with not a lot expected of us. But we feel we have a score to settle."
DONEGAL: P Durcan: N McCready, R Sweeney, D Diver; E McGee, B Monaghan, K Cassidy; B Boyle (1-0), B McLoughlin; C Toye, M Hegarty (0-3), S McDermott: C McFadden (0-3), A Sweeney (0-5, three frees), B Devenney (0-3, one free). Subs: P McGonigle for B McLaughlin (59 mins); K Lacy for N McCready (66 mins); S Carr for E McGee (70 mins), B Roper for C Toye (71 mins).
ANTRIM: S McGreevy; N Ward, C Brady, T Convery; G Adams, S Kelly, A Finnegan; J Quinn, M McCrory; M McCarry, K Brady K McGourty (0-1); P Doherty, D O'Hare (1-1), K Madden (0-6, four frees). Subs: M Dougan for M McCrory (3 mins); J Marron (0-1) for P Doherty (57 mins); J McKeever for N Ward (57 mins); K Murray for G Adams (61 mins).
Referee: P Fox (Westmeath).
