Thompson keeps Donegal on course for a final spot
MICKEY HARTE saw enough through the driving rain in Ballybofey on Saturday night to know that Tyrone’s great nemesis haven’t gone away. Having shed nine of last year’s squad in the close season, it was expected Donegal would park up on the margins for a couple of years to rebuild. Now, with a couple of games – against Monaghan and Mayo – remaining, they are chasing hard for a place in the Allianz League final. They impressed here, defying horrible conditions to give a kicking exhibition in the first half when five points on the trot left them with a healthy 0-9 to 0-4 lead at the break. On the restart, they sat deep and broke what precious little the visitors — limited to two Seán Cavanagh points at either end of the half — could throw at them. Harte admitted afterwards that it was like watching the Donegal of his nightmares. ‘They played with all the quality and all the guile that we’ve been accustomed to see them do,’ he insisted. ‘They’ve lost a number of their senior players but they haven’t changed the way they play, they are a very efficient team and they very much know what they’re doing. Tonight they didn’t put a foot wrong,’ he added. Indeed, the Donegal performance was decorated with some sparking individual displays. Ciarán Thompson set the tone with two stunning points inside the opening three minutes as Donegal opted for a shoot-onsight policy from deep, which they executed with aplomb. Their control in the second half was absolute, aided by an outstanding performance from Ryan McHugh, with the AllStar kicking a point and setting up another for Hugh McFadden after a scorching run. DONEGAL: MA McGinley; P McGrath, N McGee, E Doherty; EB Gallagher, F McGlynn (C Mulligan h-t), P Brennan; M Murphy, C Thompson; M O’Reilly, E McHugh, R McHugh; M Carroll, H McFadden (M McElhinney 65), J Brennan (B McCole 70). Scorers: C Thompson 0-3, H McFadden, R McHugh 0-2, E McHugh, F McGlynn, P McGrath, C Mulligan, Murphy (f) 0-1. Wides: (4) 9. Frees: (5) 14. Black card: P McGrath (53). Yellow cards: M Murphy (29), P Brennan (44). TYRONE: M O’Neill; R Brennan (R O’Neill 58), R McNamee, C McCarron (J Munroe 54); T McCann, J McMahon (A McCory 52), C McShane (C Meyler h-t); C Cavanagh, D McClure (P Hampsey h-t); N Sludden, K McGeary, P Harte; M Bradley, S Cavanagh, M Donnelly. Scorers: S Cavanagh 0-3 (2f), P Harte 0-2 (1f), R Brennan 0-1 Wides: (5) 12. Frees: (5) 12. Yellow cards: J McMahon (43), C Meyler (50), M Braldey (68), R O’Neill (70). Referee: D Coldrick (Meath).