Ulster SFC Final: Donegal win extra-time thriller
Ulster SFC Final
Donegal 2-23
Armagh 0-28
(After extra time; 1-20 to 0-23 in normal time)
from GAA.ie
Donegal prevailed in a gripping, exhausting, exhilarating Ulster final.
The disappointing part of it was that it had to end.
When the whistle shrilled to finally signal the last act, Donegal retained their crown: Just; By the very skins of the teeth they had to grit in St Tiernach’s Park’s trenches.
In the tense extra period, Ciaran Moore bagged a Donegal goal, but it was Niall O’Donnell who proved the match winner, curling over after Ethan Rafferty, Armagh’s goalkeeper, nailed a two-point free from 45 metres.
Donegal led by seven points in both halves of normal time and Hugh McFadden’s goal, nine minutes into the second half, felt like a seismic score.
Armagh – the reigning All-Ireland champion – outscored Donegal 0-8 to 0-1 in the last 20 minutes to take the tie to extra time.
It was the fourth Ulster final in a row to go beyond regulation time with Armagh having lost the previous two, against Derry and Donegal, on penalties.
When Jarly Og Burns found the range early in that extra period, it was the first time all evening that Armagh had the driving seat. It was level pegging at half-time in extra time, 1-22 to 0-25.
Moore lit the touch paper for Donegal when he powered home from Jason McGee’s pass, but the drama was still in its infancy and O’Donnell – a club mate of Moore at St Eunan’s – bent over the winner.
It seemed like a long time since the the 44th minute of the regulation time when McFadden seized the moment in clinical fashion. Shane O’Donnell had teed up Conor O’Donnell, but the ball slipped from his clutch. McFadden reacted quickest and in one deadly swing of the boot drove high to the net.
A year ago in the final, only penalties could separate the old foes following a 0-20 apiece deadlock.
The Orchard weren’t going to wilt easily.
Twice in the space of two minutes after McFadden’s goal, Armagh had huge chances of their own.
First, Darragh McMullan shimmed in style to set up the shot, but his effort flashed just wide of the target.
They were closer still when Ben Crealey’s stinging shot, via a touch off Jarly Og Burns, careered off the inside of the post. Remarkably, the ball spun all the way across the face of the goal.
Armagh shook the heads to bring themselves level in the last few seconds, the scoreboard locked at 1-20 to 0-23 after an absorbing 70 minutes.
A breathless first-half saw Donegal lead 0-14 to 0-11 with Oisín Gallen riffling over four of those for the Tir Chonaill men.
Donegal were 0-6 to 0-5 ahead when they hit a real purple patch, kicking seven points in six minutes.
Gallen hit three of those with Michael Murphy – set up by the fit-again Caolan McGonagle – and Michael Langan on target and Ciaran Thompson beautifully landed his second two-pointer of the day.
Thompson struck a sweet spot in the 13th minute, slamming over from the edge of the arc.
Donegal arrived with a real purpose.
In the 18th minute, Murphy – who was in retirement last year when these teams drew their respective swords – caught one-handed and won a free, which was converted by captain Patrick McBrearty.
Donegal had sight of goal too but, after taking a pass from Dáire Ó Baoill, Peadar Mogan was denied by Ethan Rafferty’s save.
It was blink-and-you’ll-miss-it stuff at times between two of the game’s heavyweights.
Donegal were double scores in front a couple of times in the opening period.
Gallen opened up a seven-point lead three minutes before half time with a clinical strike.
As is the wont of the All-Ireland champion, Armagh hit back. Oisin Conaty reduced the deficit a little and Oisin O”Neill raised the noise from the Orchard faithful and the orange flag at the goal in the process of booming over a two-pointer.
But for a touch over the crossbar from Donegal goalkeeper Shaun Patton a minute later, O’Neill would have repeated his trick. Instead, he had to settle for a single point and Armagh were only three behind as they headed down the tunnel for the interval.
While Rian O’Neill was a part of the Armagh travelling party again, the All-Ireland winner wasn’t a part of the match day 26, but a return to action seems imminent.
Armagh narrowed the margin further at the outset of the second half.
When Ross McQuillan fisted over in the 43rd minute, the Cullyhanna clubman gave Patton something of a reminder of the heat.
It was Donegal, though, who reacted instantly and McFadden slammed to the Armagh net to put Donegal four to the good (1-16 to 0-15).
While Murphy and Conor O’Donnell stretched the lead, Donegal were far from comfortable in those moments, surviving two real scares and their goal living a charmed life.
Ciaran Moore opened up a seven-point gap again when he fired Donegal 1-19 to 0-15 ahead in the 49th minute, but Armagh arrowed over the next five points, including a monster two-point free by Oisín O’Neill.
Ten minutes from the end, Rafferty tried his luck for two points, but was off cue with the chance to level the sums.
The nails were considerably shortened – from those in either camp – when Jason Duffy popped over with his fist.
With Donegal hanging on by those fingernails, the final kick of normal time – right on the hooter – saw Conaty forced the game into extra time.
There, Donegal hung onto their crown as Armagh were left nursing another painful provincial final loss.
Scorers for Donegal: Oisín Gallen 0-4, Ciaran Moore 1-1, Ciarán Thompson 0-4 (2 2pt), Hugh McFadden 1-0, Michael Murphy, Patrick McBrearty (3f) 0-3 each, Michael Langan, Niall O’Donnell 0-2 each, Conor O’Donnell, Daire O Baoill, Peadar Mogan, Jason McGee 0-1 each
Scorers for Armagh: Oisín O’Neill 0-7 (1 2pt, 1 2pt f), Oisin Conaty 0-6, Ethan Rafferty (1 2pt f, 1 f), Stefan Campbell, Ross McQuillan 0-3 each, Jason Duffy 0-2, Callum O’Neill, Andrew Murnin, Ben Crealey, Jarly Og Burns 0-1 each
Donegal: Shaun Patton; Finnbarr Roarty, Brendan McCole, Peadar Mogan; Ryan McHugh, Hugh McFadden, Ciarán Moore; Ciarán Thompson, Michael Langan; Dáire Ó Baoill, Caolan McGonagle, Shane O’Donnell; Patrick McBrearty, Michael Murphy, Oisín Gallen. Subs: Conor O’Donnell for McBrearty (43), Jason McGee for McFadden (50), Jamie Brennan for Ó Baoill (52), Eoin McHugh for Moore (55), Aaron Doherty for Gallen (60), Odhran McFadden-Ferry for Doherty (70), Niall O’Donnell for Brennan (70), Patrick McBrearty for Murphy (77), Dáire Ó Baoill for R McHugh (79), Stephen McMenamin for McCole (84).
Armagh: Ethan Rafferty; Paddy Burns, Barry McCambridge, Aidan Forker; Ross McQuillan, Greg McCabe, Jarly Óg Burns; Callum O’Neill, Ben Crealey; Darragh McMullan, Rory Grugan, Oisín Conaty; Tiernan Kelly, Andrew Murnin, Oisín O’Neill. Subs: Conor Turbitt for Kelly (41), Stefan Campbell for C.O’Neill (50), Peter McGrana for McCabe (55), Jason Duffy for O O’Neill (60), Niall Grimley for Forker (61), Connaire Mackin for Murnin (70), Jemar Hall for McQuillan (77), Cian McConville for Conaty (79), Shane McPartlan for Grugan (83), Tomas McCormack for McQuillan (88)
Referee: Brendan Cawley (Kildare)
