Gallagher’s men are given a huge scare but plucky Longford lose their shape
DONEGAL were given the fright of their lives by Longford in Ballybofey yesterday in a case of what might have been for the Division 3 side.
17 wides will be something that will haunt the midlanders. Although having scored only twice from play against an incredibly subdued Donegal side, the visitors might only have themselves to blame for not producing what would’ve one of the shocks of recent times.
On 48 minutes, with both teams having missed a hatful of chances, it was still 0-5 to 0-5. Longford, though, lost centreforward James McGivney to a second yellow card and Patrick McBrearty soon put Donegal in front for the first time.
By that stage, Longford had also lost the other two members of their half-forward line – Daniel Mimnagh and Darren Gallagher – to black cards. Donegal finally came somewhere near fluency in the final 15 minutes and went on to win by five points with McBrearty scoring five in all and Michael Murphy hitting three frees.
‘The sending off was the turning point,’ Longford manager Denis Connerton said afterwards. ‘There was a very difficult wind to play in there and Donegal had many wides also.’
Connerton suggested afterwards he will make a call on his own future. He added: ‘Well it’s time for me now to sit down and have a good look at my lifestyle. The players are fabulous young men who make many sacrifices in their lives. It’s disappointing to see them out of the Championship so early.’
With Tyrone ending Donegal’s dreams of a seventh provincial final on the spin in spectacular style in the Ulster semi-final, the back door has been something of an unfamiliar stomping ground.
Longford lost heavily to Laois in Leinster before a 2-15 to 1-9 victory against Louth got Connerton’s team back to a stage in the competition where they’ve flourished in recent seasons.
Wins over the likes of Down, Derry and Monaghan showed the midlanders had built a reputation for catching Ulster teams on the hop having fallen out of the race for the AngloCelt.
Seeing as no visiting team has won in Ballybofey in either
League or Championship since Down on their way to the 2010 All-Ireland final, a home draw offered Donegal a chance to feel their way back into the championship. Or so it seemed.
At half-time, Longford were in front, 0-4 to 0-3. Three frees from David McGivney were supplemented with a score from Robbie Smyth. Donegal went 23 minutes between a monster Murphy free and a McBrearty point before substitute Martin McElhinney added a third in first half injury-time.
It was a half of missed opportunities. Donegal kicked 10 wides in that opening period and dropped four balls short. Longford, for their part, were off target on nine occasions and two fell into the arms of Mark Anthony McGinley, the Donegal goalkeeper.
On 22 minutes, Smyth was in more space than he might’ve anticipated and from a raking James McGivney ball in tried to flick the ball over McGinley and his effort was harmlessly wide when so much more might’ve come from it.
It was a huge chance, although Longford had plenty of them. Donegal, too, were wasteful and fired wide on no less than 16 occasions. They’ll have plenty to think about over the next seven days.
‘We were coming very wounded and very hurt,’ Rory Gallagher, the Donegal manager said. ‘We were disappointed in ourselves as a group. We had to keep the chin up and it wasn’t easy. If you gave me a five-point victory, would I have taken it? 100 per cent.
‘We’d like to have played better. Some of the edginess comes when we miss a lot of relatively straightforward chances. Until we win a few games the smiles won’t be as strong and as natural as they should be.’