Donegal end 19 year wait

Ulster GAA Senior Football Championship Final
Donegal 1-11 Derry 0-8

A second half penalty from Michael Murphy helped Donegal to their first provincial title since 1992 as they proved too strong for Derry in the Ulster GAA Football Championship final in Clones.

The teams went in at the break level with the scores at 0-5 to 0-5, but after the restart a long ball into the Derry danger area caused Danny Devlin to foul Murphy and the Glenswilly man stepped up to finish off the spot kick.

Colm McFadden, who scored 0-4, gave a fine performance and along with Murphy the pair proved a handful for the Derry full-back line.

Derry brought Donegal’s lead down to three points but they only managed to score a total of three points in the second half and Donegal were never in danger of losing this game.

At the other end of the pitch Derry were not firing on all cylinders throughout the 70 minutes and their full-forward line struggled to make a massive impact on the game especially in the second half as total of just three points were scored.

Donegal manager Jim McGuinness’s plan seemed to be working in the opening stages of this encounter with his players attacking in groups. McFadden opened the scoring with a free but Derry centre-back Charlie Kielt managed to level the game with just seven minutes gone.

But wing-back Anthony Thompson got his first of the afternoon and captain Murphy was showing early as Derry were unable to stop him and the Glenswilly man scored a point to put them 0-3 to 0-2.

The Oakleafers could have been blamed for starting slowly as the tactic of shooting on sight from all angles was not working effectively. A total of eight wides were registered in the opening half and it was a major concern for Derry manager John Brennan.

Further points from Ryan Bradley and Thompson stretched the lead to 0-5 to 0-2 and it looked like Donegal were taking a firm grip on this game.

But Derry started to win the battle around centre field as Joe Diver and Michael Friel began to win ball and primary possession that started to turn the tide in their favour.

The point of the day came from Charlie Kielt as he struck a fine effort with the outside of the right boot to curl over the bar. Conleith Gilligan registered his first point of the afternoon from a free and first half sub Martin Donaghy was only on the pitch a few moments when he scored a point.

Donegal had an easy chance to go in on top at the break with what looked like a kickable free from Murphy but the Donegal captain dragged his effort wide and sent the teams in at the break level at 0-5 to 0-5.

The second half exploded into life moments after the ball was thrown in when a penalty was awarded to Donegal. A long ball by Michael Hegarty was blasted directly into Murphy but he let the ball bounce and Danny Devlin came out taking both ball and man. Murphy dusted himself off and buried the ball to the left and past Devlin in the Derry goal.

That goal seemed to have given Donegal the upper hand and a new lease of life as two fine scores from McFadden and then Hegarty started to put daylight between the sides.

Derry bounced back and two points from James Kielt left just a point between the sides but that was as good as it got for the Oak Leaf County. Donegal’s tactics proved to be key to their victory. Having men behind the ball was freeing up space for the dangerous pair of McFadden and Murphy and they pounced on the quick ball going in.

Any chance of a late rally from John Brennan’s men was ended when McFadden scored his third point of the day with under 20 minutes remaining on the clock.

The lead was restored to five points just moments later from Murphy. Again a long ball was kicked into the direction of the target man, he dropped the shoulder and slotted over a fine score.

James Kielt was on hand to score a very late point for Derry but deep into injury time McFadden capped off a fine performance with his fourth of the day and his second from play, again linking up well with Murphy to secure the victory.

Donegal Scorers: M Murphy 1-2, C McFadden 0-4 (0-2), M Hegarty 0-2, A Thompson 0-2, R Bradley 0-1.

Derry Scorers: J Kielt 0-4 (0-2), C Kielt 0-2, C Gilligan 0-1, M Donaghy 0-1

Donegal: P Durcan; F McGlynn, N McGee, P McGrath; A Thompson, K Lacey, K Cassidy; R Kavanagh, N Gallagher; M McHugh, M Hegarty, R Bradley; P McBrearty, M Murphy, C McFadden. Subs: M McElhinney for Kavanagh (31), K McCloy for Mullan (45), D Molloy for McBrearty (54), D Walsh for Bradley (58).

Derry: D Devlin; S L McGoldrick, K McGuckin, D McBride; C Mullan, C Kielt, M Bateson; J Diver, M Friel; M Lynch, C O’Boyle, B McGoldrick; E Muldoon, J Kielt, C Gilligan. Subs: M Donaghy for Batesman (29), G O’Kane for B McGoldrick (60), E McGuckin for Gilligan (60) PJ McCloskey for Muldoon (62).

Video: Ulster GAA President Aogan O Fearghail presents the Anglo Celt Cup to Donegal captain Michael Murphy.
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