Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
DONEGAL A LONG WAY OFF PACE
Rory’s boys win a dour struggle
DITHERY Donegal limped over the line against 14-man Longford in a tepid affair in Ballybofey. Three points in as many minutes midway through the second half sealed the deal for Rory Gallagher’s men, in a tie littered with mistakes. Donegal hit 16 wides while the Midlands men hit 17 in a highly forgettable affair. Gallagher admitted he was “not happy with the performance” but bristled when asked about pre-match rumours that Michael Murphy had hamstring trouble. “You deal in rumours and you can take that any way you want,” he said. For most of the match, youthful Donegal seemed to show the scars from their painful loss to Tyrone. It took the introduction of old hands Martin Mcelhinney and Karl Lacey to help turn this match in their favour. The accuracy of Paddy Mcbrearty was also crucial as many of his team-mates were off form. Gallagher said: “We were just recovering from a bad day at the office against Tyrone. “It did not go the way of some of the young players out there today and then Martin Mcelhinney came in very well. “The likes of Michael Carroll and Jason Mcgee are still very young and it is a big step up.” After a putrid first half, Longford led by 0-4 to 0-3, with all of their scores coming from frees. Donegal had most of the possession but, playing into the wind, they did little with it. Both sides racked up the wides and Donegal dropped four shots short. In the 20th minute, Longford midfielder John Keegan managed to get one on one with Tir Conaill’s excellent keeper Mark Anthony Mcginley but referee Padraig Hughes had blown already for a free. Three minutes later, full forward Liam Connerton was clear on goal but elected to flick the ball over his head and the chance was gone. There was only two points from play in the entire half, a superb effort from Mcbrearty and one from Mcelhinney. It took Donegal a full 49 minutes to take the lead, the accurate boot of Mcbrearty edging them in front by 0-6 to 0-5. Longford then lost James Mcgivney to a second yellow card but stayed in touch to the bitter end.