Raymond Galligan: Made two brave blocks to deny Patrick McBrearty two goals in the first half. Had a couple of kick-out malfunctions and tended to go up the middle with quite a number of them. 6
Jason McLoughlin: Any defender is going to struggle with Jamie Brennan’s pace but McLoughlin managed to keep the Donegal flyer to just two points from play. 6
Padraig Faulkner: Had a first-half goal chance but lost his footing. Tried to get forward to bolster Cavan’s attack. Although Patrick McBrearty was still scoreless up until the 61st minute it was more good fortune than good defending from the Cavan back-line. 6
Niall Murray: Landed an important score towards the end of the first half to reduce Donegal’s lead to five, but didn’t appear for the second period. 5
Killian Brady: With Cavan’s defensive system malfunctioning in the first half, he was the player to make way as they re-shuffled their back line. 5
Ciaran Brady: The Cavan centre-back had an excellent NFL campaign but he was swept away by Donegal’s tsunami. Picked up a needless yellow card. 5
Conor Moynagh: Playing a wider position than in previous seasons. His kick passing was good in the early stages, but lost a couple of possessions. Kept going to the end. 5
Killian Clarke: Played midfield and it was his tenacity that enabled him to set up Cavan’s first half goal. Tried to contain Michael Murphy after Cavan re-jigged their defensive system, with little joy. 6
Bryan Magee: Making his Championship debut, the Cuchullain’s man landed an early point and set up a goal chance for Faulkner. Moved into the full-forward line in the second half before he was called ashore. 5
Cian Mackey: Hit a great defence-splitting pass that almost led to a first-half goal. Industrious throughout but found himself in possession with not a lot of runners to hit. Ended with a couple of consolation scores. 6
Oisin Kiernan: Spent the first 25 minutes marking Michael Murphy and was completely lost to the game. He moved into the sweeper’s role and did better. 5
Enda Flanagan: Was assigned the Donegal conundrum of trying to shadow the ubiquitous Ryan McHugh and did a reasonable job, but never put his man on the back foot at any stage. 6
Caoimhin O’Reilly: Exceptionally cool goal finish in the first half and converted a couple of handy frees. Always showed for possession but was surrounded by yellow jerseys. 6
Gearoid McKiernan: Shuttled down Cavan’s centre and hit two excellent first-half points. He tried to give Cavan a foothold in midfield but Michael Murphy was different class in that sector. Kept going to the bitter end and hit five consolation points in the second half. 7
Conor Bradley: The Ramor corner-forward was lively and never stopped offering himself as an option but was often outnumbered and didn’t really get away from the impressive Caolan Ward. 6
Subs:
Fergal Reilly: Entered the fray after 22 minutes
Ryan Connolly: Plenty of effort when he came in for Niall Murray at the break. 5
Adrian Cole: Did well by winning a couple of balls and put the Donegal full-back line under a bit of stress. 6
Martin Reilly: A surprise he didn’t start and came in for Caoimhin O’Reilly but struggled with the pace of Donegal’s forwards. 5
Dara McVeety: The real pity for Cavan is that their talisman wasn’t fit enough to start yesterday. 5
