Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
SEMI STROLL WAS NOT WHAT WE WANTED
Bonner bemoans dreadful Down display as he now sets his sights on much tougher Erne test
DECLAN Bonner admitted Donegal didn’t get the test they’d have liked against Down in the most onesided of Ulster semi-finals at Clones.
Despite losing All Star full-back Neil Mcgee to a straight red card after 13 minutes, Donegal won pulling up to reach a seventh Ulster SFC final in eight years.
“We got scores on the board and the threat was coming from all over the park,” said the Donegal boss (left). “The lads started playing with that bit of freedom. You’d have to say Down didn’t put the challenge to us.
“From our point of view, we can only look after ourselves and beat what is put in front of us.
“You have to go out and do a professional job and I thought we did adapt and to have 10 different scorers was very pleasing.”
Having stunned Monaghan at the same stage last year, Down hoped lightning could strike twice but they bombed at Clones and were totally outclassed.
Donegal racked up 1-12 in the first half and 1-10 in the second – almost all without Mcgee who copped a straight red card after just 13 minutes for a knee in the back of Connaire Harrison. Donegal were already three points up at that stage and they hit 1-8 without reply before Caolan Mooney registered first score in the 25th minute.
Leo Mcloone cracked home the opening goal after 21 minutes, reacting quickest after Ciaran Thompson’s shot crashed off the upright and he pivoted to bury the ball past Marc Reid.
The Down keeper had a nightmare with his kickouts. He kept launching the ball long in the first half straight to grateful Donegal men whenever the shorter kick-out to unmarked Down men was the smarter option.
Reid began to find greater accuracy in the 10 minutes before the interval and it paid off as the Mournemen outscored Donegal by seven points to five.
Harrison, freed from the shackles of Mcgee, made hay against Caolan Ward while Donal O’hare gave Paddy Mcgrath a torrid time.
The duo scored 0-5 between them, four from play, on the few scraps of possession Down were able to deliver inside.
Eamonn Burns’ side needed a good start to the second half but instead Donegal continued where they left off with Michael Murphy, Paddy Mcbrearty and Jamie Brennan cutting the Down defence to ribbons.
The inside trio hit 1-14 between them, 1-8 of that from play, with Brennan’s searing pace a growing feature of the game with Down unable to contain him. He landed a second Donegal goal after 45 mindown’s
utes from an unselfish pass across to the back post by Ryan Mchugh.
Only for over-elaboration, Donegal could have added another three goals after the break as the game, lacking intensity and atmosphere in front of 12,051, petered out.
Down lost three players – Ronan Millar, Shay Millar and David Mckibbon – to black cards but Niall Donnelly did land a stoppage time goal to at least reduce the deficit to 13.
Donegal next play Fermanagh in the Ulster final on June 24, and after three easy victories will expect Rory Gallagher’s mean Erne defence to be a far greater challenge than anything they’ve faced in the campaign to date.