Football

Player ratings for Donegal v Cavan

Leo McLoone put in a solid shift for Donegal Picture by Margaret McLaughlin
Leo McLoone put in a solid shift for Donegal Picture by Margaret McLaughlin Leo McLoone put in a solid shift for Donegal Picture by Margaret McLaughlin

DONEGAL

Shaun Patton: Cavan made life a bit uncomfortable early on but the accuracy of Patton’s kick-outs were crucial to Donegal gaining a foothold, as he repeatedly found Langan and Murphy. 7.5

Eoghan Gallagher: Drew a roar from the crowd after hustling Moynagh out of possession late in the first half, but found the lively O’Reilly hard to handle at times early on. 6.5

Neil McGee: Didn’t give Bradley a look in, and also helped double up on Mackey when needed. 7

Caolan Ward: Bounded upfield for a great first half score, and a lovely pass played in McBrearty for a goal chance. Also defended doggedly when required. A solid display. 7.5

Stephen McMenamin: Started on McKiernan before the Cavan man dropped back to midfield, and found his pace and power hard to handle at times. 6.5

Leo McLoone: Played at centre-back, did plenty of hard running and was a cool head to clear the danger after an early Cavan goal chance. 7

Ryan McHugh: Possibly the smallest man on the field, but rose highest to punch home Donegal’s goal from a Murphy 45 that dropped short. Otherwise, didn’t need to be at his influential best. 7

Frank McGlynn: Operated as a spare man, and was largely detailed to curb the threat of Mackey or McKiernan whenever they gained possession. 7

Hugh McFadden: Might not catch the eye as much as Murphy but had a busy afternoon. Booked for a foul on McKiernan. 6.5

Michael Murphy (STAR MAN) The Glenswilly man was everywhere, sweeping up in defence, driving forward and getting on the end of moves. Looked leggy at times in the League but not yesterday. Finished with six and produced the pass of the day, crossfield like an arrow to find McBrearty. 8.5

Paul Brennan: Got through lots of work, and got in the faces of Cavan throughout, turning the ball over on several occasions and playing some telling passes. 7

Michael Langan: Very classy performance from the Killybegs man, who scored three lovely first half points. Has a lovely languid style and his final point, in particular, was a joy to behold. 8

Ciaran Thompson: Started like a steam train, cutting inside to score Donegal’s first of the two and added two more later in the half as Donegal took control. 7.5

Paddy McBrearty: A frustrating sort of a day, despite finishing with four points. Spurned two goal chances. Better days lie ahead. 6

Jamie Brennan: Scored a point in each half and his pace caused problems for McLoughlin all day. 7

Substitutes

Ciaran McGinley: Played a lovely ball in for fellow substitute Mulligan’s goal late in the game. 6.5

Eamonn Doherty: Game was all but over by the time he came on, and wasn’t heavily involved. 6

Cian Mulligan: Only on the field for 13 minutes but his blinding pace created two points for McBrearty, and also bagged a goal himself. 7.5

Mark McHugh: On for less than 10 minutes and didn’t see much of the ball. 6

Stephen McBrearty: Not on long enough to be rated.

Caolan McGonagle: Not on long enough to be rated.

CAVAN

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