Ulster Senior Football Championship quarter-final: Donegal 3-19 Antrim 1-9
Player Ratings
Donegal
Mark Anthony McGinley: Accurate with his short kick-outs, and went untested in the main. Could do little about Antrim’s late goal. 6
Paddy McGrath: A mixed afternoon. Struggled to get to grips with Tomas McCann early on, the tricky Cargin forward firing over two lovely scores in the opening six minutes, but ended up bagging a goal. 7
Neil McGee: Detailed to pick up CJ McGourty and the St Gall’s man’s clever movement saw him get the better of the opening exchanges before Donegal pulled away after half-time. 6.5
Eoghan Ban Gallagher: Solid performance, and got forward on a couple of occasions as the Tir Chonaill men took control. 7
Marty Reilly: Came deep to get on McGinley’s kick-outs as Donegal struggled to find their groove in the first half. Provided a much-needed injection of pace at times. 7.5
Frank McGlynn: Quietly assured as always, McGlynn moves around the field effortlessly, always providing an option for his team-mates. 7.5
Caolan Ward: Strong defensively and often provided an option going forward. 7
Michael Murphy (STAR MAN): Donegal’s leader in every respect. A cool head during the early jitters, he came out on top of his running battle with Sean McVeigh and must have featured in every part of the pitch at some stage. 8.5
Ciaran Thompson: A very classy performance, the towering Thompson won his fair share of ball around the middle, produced some superb long-range passes and was unerring from frees. 8
Michael Carroll: Worked hard to pick up break ball as he and Ruairi McCann effectively cancelled each other out. 6.5
Ryan McHugh: A quiet day by his normal high standards, McHugh never needed to drive Donegal on as he has in the past, but his mere presence was unsettling for Antrim. 7
Jason McGee: Worked hard to get up and down the field but saw very little ball. 6.5
Cian Mulligan: Drafted in to replace Paddy McBrearty, he was busy early on but faded and was eventually replaced. 6.5
Hugh McFadden: Pushed up to full-forward, McFadden got very little change out of Patrick Gallagher. 6.5
Jamie Brennan: Looked lively throughout and scored the crucial final two scores of the first half – one of which was a goal – as Donegal took control before the break. 8
Substitutes
Eoin McHugh: Showed occasional flashes of his searing pace but made little impact. 6.5
Karl Lacey: The Four Masters veteran made plenty of running, linking play and providing options. Grabbed a point late on. 7
Paddy McBrearty: Looked sharp when introduced, and added the finishing touch to a flowing move when he lashed home Donegal’s third goal with the game all but over. 7.5
Martin McElhinney: Got on plenty of ball and looked the part as Donegal finished with a flourish. 7.5
Mark McHugh: Only on the field for 10 minutes, but was efficient in possession. 7
Michael Langan: The game may have been long gone when he was introduced, but Langan’s two late scores were from the top drawer. 7.5
Antrim
Chris Kerr: Didn’t have a chance of preventing any of Donegal’s three goals. Apart from one kick-out that led to an early Ciaran Thompson score, they were generally good deliveries. 6
Conor Hamill: Very tenacious performance from the Glenavy man. Stuck to his task really well and rode out a first half storm on goal-scorer Jamie Brennan. 6
Patrick Gallagher: Antrim’s best player. Made a few excellent interceptions, did a good job on Hugh McFadden and for a full-back he was on the front foot for most of the game. 7.5
Peter Healy: Another debutant who had a strong first half. Caught one of Kerr’s kick-outs that led to Stephen Beatty pointing and showed good pace on the counter-attack. Quieter second half. 6
Patrick McBride: The St John’s man kept breaking forward from his wing-back position and showed many Donegal men a clean pair of heels. Set up CJ McGourty for a goal chance. One or two poor choices in the second period. 6.5
Declan Lynch: The Lamh Dhearg clubman held the centre well and was very disciplined in his tackling but there were simply too many holes to plug in the second period. 5.5
Paddy McAleer: A surprise choice as the defensive sweeper. His positioning was very good and he got forward at times too. Later went man-to-man. 5.5
Sean McVeigh: Assigned the onerous task of man-marking Michael Murphy. Stuck manfully to his task but found the Glenswilly man uncontainable on the day. 5
Stephen Beatty: Making his Championship debut, the slippery midfielder pointed in the first half and won a couple of loose balls, but was swept away by a Donegal tsunami in the second half. 5.5
Ruairi McCann: Always showed for Kerr’s kick-outs down the flank and did some good defensive work before being replaced. 5
Matthew Fitzpatrick: The St John’s man was playing with all the freedom that the CCCC tried to deny him before his day was cruelly ended by injury on 35 minutes. Up to that point was one of the best performers on the field. 7
Mark Sweeney: A surprise he didn’t play the sweeper’s role. Recycled possession well and never afraid to mix it with some of Donegal’s bigger men. 5.5
CJ McGourty: Found it relatively easy to get away from Neil McGee in the first half. Had a sniff of Donegal’s goal in the first half before the supply dried up in the second period. Very accurate from frees and set up Conor Small for his major. 7
Brendan Bradley: The St Gall’s man played the withdrawn role well in the first half and was good in possession, but like a lot of his team-mates a second half to forget. 5
Tomas McCann: Undaunted by Paddy McGrath, the Cargin man looked like having a crazy day in the sun when he hit two early points. Could count the touches he got in the second half. 6.5
Substitutes
Kevin O’Boyle: Entered the fray for Fitzpatrick before half-time and his lack of game-time showed. 5
Jack Dowling: Offered more physicality in the second half. 5
Conor Small: Plenty of guts and a fine goal finish in stoppage-time. 6
Donal Nugent: Took over the Michael Murphy detail in the closing stages. 5
Niall Delargy: Not on long enough to be rated.
