Donegal 1-11 Derry 0-8:IN THE moment of victory Jim McGuinness covered his face with his hands, briefly shook his head – and in that dreamlike instant must have felt 18 all over again.
Moments later he was swamped by Donegal supporters, who with a good, old-fashioned pitch invasion, quite obviously thought it was 1992 all over again. It was one of those days in Clones, when the present was blended perfectly with the past.
It was several minutes later before Michael Murphy made it up the steps of the main stand to collect the Anglo-Celt Cup, and with that the last provincial final of 2011 was complete. There were more exciting contests, but for the attendance of 28,364 none were as purposeful as this – nor as ultimately celebrated.
It was a throwback for Derry too but one which ended with painful opposites: their dream of a first Ulster title since 1998 not only fell short but was possibly cut short by a controversial penalty awarded to Donegal two minutes into the second half. Derry manager John Brennan was still trying to make sense of the decision long after the final whistle, and he wasn’t the only one.
What is certain is Murphy was chasing onto a long ball, sent in by Michael Hegarty, and Derry goalkeeper Denny Devlin rushed out to meet him. It was largely a case of two men going for the one ball, although Murphy apparently came off worst, as Devlin’s attempted block ended up bringing him down – while the ball itself sailed wide.
Referee Maurice Deegan was some 50 metres away, and straightaway signalled the penalty – and indeed booked Devlin. There was also some later consultation with his umpires, but this didn’t appear to impact on his decision.
Equally certain was Murphy’s conversion – as his thundering shot of raw power was unstoppable. That put Donegal 1-5 to 0-5 in front, and Murphy was suddenly ignited: in the next few minutes the 22-year-old laid off scores for Colm McFadden, to his left, then Michael Hegarty, to his right, and with that gave Donegal a five-point winning advantage they never once looked like surrendering.
While Derry briefly rallied with two points from James Kielt, they then went 21 minutes without a score – although not through lack of trying. The problem was breaking through Donegal’s defence, which even in conceding numerous frees, essentially kept Derry at arm’s length. Derry’s frustration was palpable, and would get worse. With about five minutes remaining, substitute Emmet McGuckin was clattered by Donegal full back Niall McGee close to goal, only this time Deegan didn’t appear to even consider a penalty. This added to Brennan’s woes, as he reckoned Derry were denied another close-range free in the first half, which resulted in a 45.
But while Derry may have had some legitimate complaints about those calls they can’t deny their performance wouldn’t have merited a win: they enjoyed marginally more possession, but only hit eight of 22 scoring chances, raking up 11 wides: Brennan didn’t entertain any questions afterwards about the absence of Eoin Bradley, and whether his loss through injury was a burden too heavy to bear, claiming “they still had 15 players on the field”.
Truth is too many players didn’t raise their game: Mark Lynch and Caolan O’Boyle never clicked as attackers, and Enda Muldoon and Conleth Gilligan were poor, and later substituted. Their shooting was either reckless or pointless.
Donegal, in contrast, improved as the game went on – especially when Murphy went into full forward, while Hegarty, Karl Lacey, Mark McHugh and Kevin Cassidy maintained a superb effort out the field. McFadden didn’t disappoint either with 0-5, two from frees, and although some running repair work was required at midfield (Neil Gallagher started for Kevin Rafferty, and Rory Kavanagh retired early with a troubled ankle), Donegal always looked the better team.
The opening 35 minutes was tight, and tense: Derry had wind advantage, and eventually turned that into possession, yet it ended 0-5 apiece, and it took two defenders – Charlie Kielt and Anthony Thompson – to actually lead the scoring, which reflected the limited attacking tactics of both teams.
Donegal could feel a little hard done by just before the intermission when Deegan decided against playing an advantage, after Murphy was fouled when setting up Kevin Cassidy for a run at goal. Cassidy duly finished, although it wouldn’t be long anyway before Donegal got the goal advantage that effectively saw them through.
Some people had billed it as science against passion, as in the more tactical, systematic game of Donegal, and the liberal, spontaneous game of Derry – but ultimately what decided it was desire.
So Donegal’s first Ulster title since 1992, and sixth in all, will bring immense satisfaction to McGuinness, who broke onto that 1992 team as an 18-year-old, and stood proudly on the sidelines here in his first season as manager. He won’t need reminding 1992 was the same year they went on to win the All-Ireland. With dreams begin responsibilities.
DONEGAL: 1 P Durcan; 2 F McGlynn, 3 N McGee, 3 P McGrath; 5 Thompson (0-2), 6 K Lacey, 7 K Cassidy; 8 R Kavanagh, 21 N Gallagher; 10 M McHugh, 11 M Hegarty (0-2), 12 R Bradley (0-1); 13 P McBrearty, 14 M Murphy (1-2, 1-0 pen), 15 C McFadden (0-4, 0-2 frees). Subs: 17 M McElhinney for Kavanagh (33 mins), 18 D Molloy for McBrearty (52 mins), 25 D Walsh for Bradley (59 mins). Yellow cards: Murphy (42 mins), McHugh (69 mins).
DERRY: 1 D Devlin; 2 S McGoldrick, 3 K McGuckin, 4 D McBride; 5 C Mullan; 6 C Kielt (0-2), 7 M Bateson; 8 J Diver, 9 M Friel; 13 E Muldoon, 10 M Lynch, 12 B McGoldrick; 22 C O’Boyle, 14 J Kielt (0-4, 0-2 frees), 15 C Gilligan (0-1, free). Subs: 24 M Donaghy (0-1) for Bateson (28 mins), 19 K McCloy for Mullan (46 mins), 23 E McGuckin for Gilligan (59 mins), 17 G O’Kane for McGoldrick (61 mins), 20 PJ McCloskey for Muldoon (62 mins). Yellow cards: Bateson (25 mins), Devlin (37 mins), McBride (42 mins), Friel (65 mins).
Referee: M Deegan (Laois).
