Donegal leave doom and gloom behind

ALL-IRELAND SFC QUALIFIER ROUND FOUR: Donegal 0-14 Galway 0-13: ANOTHER MYSTICAL performance plucked from the Hills. It seems like yesterday since Donegal were the down-and-outs on the Championship's Bowery Lane, but they have recovered their spirit and purpose to a confounding degree. Now, they are back in the bright lights and supping with the aristocracy. And nobody is quite sure what to make of them.

Their latest prize victory over Galway was hewed from the same stuff as their epic contest against neighbours Derry: courage, honesty and a sense of self-belief that, on a dull summer evening in Sligo, looked iridescent in the vital phases of the game.

Galway were as luckless here as they were against Mayo a week ago and were edged out by the ravenous desire of the Donegal men more than for want of football skill. John Joe Doherty, the Donegal manager, proved as measured in this victory as he was dignified on the black afternoon when his team crashed out against Antrim. He has conducted himself with enormous composure in this championship and brings a fearless team into new territory now.

That this match had true qualifier grit did not translate too well on television but it was fiercely contested, often untidy and fuelled by the baseline desperation of knowing that a place in the quarter-finals – a whole new competition – awaited.

There was some wonderful scoring from both sides, with Seán Armstrong and Michael Meehan again demonstrating their reputation as supreme marksmen for Galway while the Donegal front pairing of Michael Murphy and Colm McFadden is now glimmering with menace.

But this was a match for defenders and there were riveting engagements all over the field. In the first 15 minutes, Murphy looked intent on obliterating Finian Hanley’s growing stature as a full back. He plundered ball from the sky and had the confidence to take the attack at the Salthill man, drawing several desperate fouls.

In that opening phase, Murphy’s potential was again illuminated – as was his inexperience. He landed four frees in the first half but Hanley gradually regained control of their tussle to the point where he blotted the younger man out. The see-sawing nature of that battle captured the balance of the contest, as Doherty pointed out.

“It could have gone anyway. The Galway full back came into it so well and if Galway had gone on to win it, he would have been very happy with his game. The result can be deceiving too. If we had lost that game, we still would have been happy with the performance.”

Doherty did the sensible thing and ended the contest by moving Murphy outfield, a switch that revitalised him. Racing towards opposition goal, Murphy has the speed and power of a juggernaut and his dispossession of Joe Bergin to win a free in the 56th minute was a huge moment in the match, setting Donegal up for a run of four unanswered points which broke the game open.

Deep in Donegal country, Meehan and Karl Lacey were locked into a similarly absorbing tussle of speed and wit, riveting to witness and, as against Paddy Bradley a week ago, the Four Masters man emerged with a burnished reputation.

Donegal’s old guard shone. Brian Roper won several possessions to which he had no right and ran himself to the point of exhaustion, Kevin Cassidy was indomitable at midfield and Rory Kavanagh, running on empty, kicked a brave point from play when a score was needed.

But two Donegal men stood out for different reasons. Barry Monaghan is the glue that holds the Donegal back six together: unspectacular and composed, he was in all the right places again in this match – most pertinently when he appeared from nowhere to boot Clancy’s deflected shot from the goal line midway through the second half. And at the other end, Colm McFadden looked lean. He is gaunt as a Confederate, with the pared down look of a man who has put himself through the ringer on the training field. He has not looked as sharp since his first days in a Donegal shirt.

This defeat leaves Galway at that place where two roads diverge. They had flashes of inspiration here. Seán Armstrong caught the eye all day and struck two beautiful points, Clancy twice exploited gaps in the Donegal defence and twice threatened the opposition goal.

Gareth Bradshaw had a fine game – and had the courage to strike for Galway’s last-gasp injury time attack – and Hanley recovered from his nightmarish opening. But the unstoppable attacking smoothness associated with this team was only fleetingly in evidence. Padraic Joyce delivered three sublime passes here but his peripheral impact on this match was another lesson in the fact that any athlete’s day in the sun is cruelly brief. It could be that the Galway faithful saw the last of a truly great player last night: either way, Galway need to find a different role for Joyce now.

In the bigger picture, they have not been further than the quarter-finals since 2001, when they last won the All-Ireland. Liam Sammon had too much class to carp about the officiating last night, although he did marvel at the fact that Donegal had scored 0-11 from frees – given that almost all of Mayo’s scores had come from play a week before.

Sammon smiled when asked about his third year. “Maybe! Well, you never know. I would like to go on. Whatever happens. I would just like to see Galway football improving and to be there or thereabouts in a given year and if I can help in doing that, I will do it. In fairness to Donegal, they kept fighting and perhaps they deserved it. We felt that we had a great chance but it just wasn’t our day.”

No. It was Doherty’s day. The quiet spoken Glen man looked utterly unbothered as he considered leading his team back to Croke Park, a place where he has known great success but which has proven frustrating for this generation of Donegal men. Against all odds, they are back. As Eamon McGee put it, “We haven’t done anything wild yet, but as least we are back in Croke Park.”

Notice has been served.

DONEGAL: M Boyle: F McGlynn, N McGee, K Lacey; B Dunnion, B Monaghan, E McGee; B Boyle, K Cassidy; R Kavanagh (0-1), B Roper, L McLoone (0-1); C Dunne, F Murphy (0-5 frees), C McFadden (0-6, four frees). Subs: D Walsh (0-1)for L McLoone (46 mins), A Hanlon for B Roper (60 mins).

GALWAY: A Faherty; K Fitzgerald (0-1), F Hanley, B Burke; G Bradshaw (0-1), D Blake, D Meehan; J Bergin, N Coleman; S Armstrong (0-2), P Joyce (0-1), P Conroy (0-2); M Clancy (0-2), M Meehan (0-4, two frees), N Joyce. Subs: C Bane for P Conroy (49 mins), B Cullinane for N Joyce (66 mins).

Sent-off: D Blake (66 mins).

Referee: R Hickey(Clare).