Donegal edged out by Dublin

GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Semi-Final:
Dublin 0-8 Donegal 0-6

Dublin qualified for the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship final for the first time since 1995 following a two-point defeat of Donegal at Croke Park on Sunday.

The Dubs dipped into the reserves of strength and character that have been stockpiled under manager Pat Gilroy to overcome the dismissal of Diarmuid Connolly to kick the last five points of the game and book their place in the decider against Kerry.

After shooting eight wides in the first half, Dublin trailed by 0-4 to 0-2 and looked to be in real trouble when Colm McFadden extended Donegal’s lead to three in the 44th minute.

Donegal’s swarmed defence had succeeded in completely clamping down on the Dublin attack to that point, but Jim McGuinness’s side ran out of steam in the final quarter and they failed to score again having built up a 0-6 to 0-3 lead.

Two minutes after Connolly was sent off, Dublin levelled the game, the direct running of Kevin McManamon proving the key to unlocking the Donegal defence, as he kicked their first score of the day on the hour mark.

Captain Bryan Cullen added another almost immediately and Dublin led for the first time with eight minutes remaining. Bernard Brogan, who had kept Dublin in the game in the first three quarters, then added his fourth free of the game and Dublin held on for a deserved victory.

Donegal went 29 minutes without a score in the second half and in the end their overly defensive tactics were their undoing as they looked to have worked themselves into ground as Dublin finally found a way through their massed defence. In the closing stages, they had the look of a side that had made their break for the line too early.

It was a largely disappointing game which was dominated by defences and featured just six points from play, with Dublin goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton his side’s second highest scorer with a free and a 45.

As expected, Donegal made three changes to the team they had named earlier in the week, with Eamonn McGee coming into the defence, where he shadowed Connolly. Christy Toye started in midfield while David Walsh was also added to a packed Donegal defence.

Nine minutes had elapsed before the first score of the game. Prior to that, Cluxton was off target with an attempt from a free, while Michael Murphy, the Donegal captain, was having an off day and kicked three wides in the first 15 minutes.

McFadden took over free-taking duties from Murphy and put Donegal into the lead on nine minutes. Dublin then carved out the only real clear-cut chance of the half, breaking up the other end of the field at pace, where Bernard Brogan evaded the attention of a swarm of Donegal backs, but he dragged his shot badly wide.

Bernard Brogan then opened Dublin’s account when he was fouled by his marker Neil McGee, slotting over the free. However, it was a real case of defences on top in the first half, as neither side had any luck penetrating defences that were set up on the 40-metre line.

As is often the case, long-range shooting is the only way of getting over – literally – such obstacles and Ryan Bradley and Kevin Cassidy found their range from well out the field to leave Donegal ahead by 0-3 to 0-2 by the half hour mark.

Dublin struggled badly to negotiate any way through the ranked masses of Donegal defenders, with their usual marksmen all failing to hit the target. Indeed, after scoring 18 points from play against Tyrone in the quarter-final, Gilroy’s side failed to score just once from open play in 35 minutes, both their points coming from Bernard Brogan frees.

Donegal were not much better in their approach play, their attacks frequently perishing because of poor distribution into the isolated McFadden. When he did get the ball he put the Ulster champions two clear, driving over a shot with the outside of his left foot in the 31st minute.

Dublin had the chance to trail by just one at the break, but Cluxton was again off target from a free from outside his own ’45. It was the Dubs’ eighth wide of the half. It was, from their persepective, a nightmare start to the game, made worse by the loss of full back Rory O’Carroll to a hip injury in the 26th minute.

Donegal were soon three clear when McFadden drove over a point within a minute of the restart, but after finding room and dummying past his marker, he probably should have found the net with his shot. Although Dublin hit back with a Cluxton free, McFadden had them in real trouble when he sent over a free from an almost impossible angle in the 44th minute.

Donegal were 0-6 to 0-3 ahead and seemingly in control. Amazingly, though, they failed to score again. After repeatedly crashing into the Donegal defence or shooting wildly from way out the field, McManamon, a half-time sub, started running at the Ulster champions and it appeared to work.

Brogan and Cluxton cut the gap to one before McManamon had a goal disallowed for challenging Donegal goalkeeper Paul Durcan under a high ball. Nonetheless, there was a noticable change in atmosphere. Dublin refused to panic and took their lead from their always cool manager.

Their hopes of bridging that 16-year gap to 1995 appeared to be in tatters when Connolly was shown a straight red in the 57th minute. Connolly had engineered space for himself but his shot was blocked and after an alteraction with an opponent referee Maurice Deegan sent the St Vincent’s man off.

Dublin again dealt with the blow in a measured manner and Benrand Brogan had them level two minutes later. The Footballer of the Year then cleverly flicked a ball over his head to the onrushing McManamon for Dublin’s first point from play. Cullen then blasted them into the lead for the very first time with eight minutes left.

Bernard Brogan’s free two minutes from time was enough in the end to give Dublin a win that they earned the hard way. After four successive semi-finals defeats since 2002, in the end all that mattered was getting over the line.

Dublin Scorers: S Cluxton 0-2 (0-1f, 0-1 45), B Brogan 0-4 (0-4f), K McManamon 0-1, B Cullen 0-1.

Donegal Scorers: C McFadden 0-4 (0-2f), R Bradley 0-1, K Cassidy 0-1.

Dublin: S Cluxton; C O’Sullivan, R O’Carroll, M Fitzsimons; J McCarthy, G Brennan, K Nolan; D Bastick, MD Macauley; P Flynn, B Cahill, B Cullen; A Brogan, D Connolly, B Brogan. Subs: P McMahon for R O’Carroll (26), K McManamon for Cahill (HT), E O’Gara for C McCarthy (61), E Fennell for Bastick (65), R McConnell for Flynn (67).

Donegal: P Durcan; P McGrath, N McGee, F McGlynn; A Thompson, K Lacey, K Cassidy; R Kavanagh, C Toye; M McHugh, D Walsh, R Bradley; P McBrearty, M Murphy, C McFadden. Subs: M Hegarty for Toye (HT), M Boyle for Lacey (42), M McElhinney for Hegarty (64), P McBrearty for Boyle (64).

Referee: Maurice Deegan (Laois)

Attendance: 81, 436