Ulster SFC quarter-final: Derry 0-16 Donegal 2-16
DERRY may have been playing catch-up from before throw-in, and always chasing this game with no real prospect of victory, but their boss Damian McErlain argued they restored some confidence with this performance.
“It was a disappointing start, but we kicked in after that and didn’t lie down. To be fair I think the boys put a bit of pride back in the thing today.
“We wanted to play for Derry, the boys wanted to do their best and did do their best. It looks disappointing but we are where we are and we have to build from here.”
Donegal’s scoring power again eased them to victory but Derry’s chances were a big part of the post-match conversations.
The hosts struck 13 wides, many of them scoreable efforts, to seven such misses from the victors, and McErlain pointed to those wasted opportunities:
“We got into it and I am particularly disappointed with the second half. We missed 1-9 in the scoring zone. All the effort was good but to miss that amount and then every time Donegal went up the field they got a score which kept us beyond arm’s length…
“And the scores we were missing were the ones we needed to get so we could find some momentum so you might get to a stage where you could say ‘Derry can win this game.’
“But we never got to that stage and when you miss those scores it also sucks an extra per cent of life out of you - but I am very pleased with the boys’ effort and how we took them on.”
Donegal’s quick start was as much the winning of this match as Derry’s poor finishing was the losing of it.
The visitors raced into a four-point lead and then netted a 13th minute goal through Hugh McFadden. Gweedore flyer Cian Mulligan bagged his second Championship goal off the bench late on.
Derry never got closer than four points back after the opening goal but Donegal boss Declan Bonner accepted that there was definite room for improvement, despite their overall dominance:
“Any time you win a Championship match in Ulster, or anywhere, it’s good, but it was a patchy performance, we know that. We played well in patches, got some good scores, but at the same time we were poor patches, so the ante will have to be upped for the semi-final against Down…
“We were in control throughout the game, we had that three-, four-, five-point cushion – but at the same time we just didn’t put them away. That would be a concern; we had opportunities also that we didn’t take, we’d a couple of goal chances, which in a tighter match that you’ve got to take if you want to get over that Ulster line…
“Absolutely they had chances, no doubt about that, most teams will get chances. A lot of what we did today wouldn’t have been the level we want to be at. We have to improve, there’s no doubt about at. But it’s a victory, it moves us on to the semi-final, and we have to get ready for that.”
In reality, injuries were Bonner’s only real concern yesterday, with Neil McGee forced off early on, Michael Langan at half-time, and Jamie Brennan at the very end.
“That’s a concern, these games are coming thick and fast, so you need that strength in depth.”
The conditions made it more difficult for defenders, but Bonner insisted he expected more from his players: “It was very warm, very humid, the sun was out for a lot of it – but that’s not really an excuse. It was an ideal surface to play football and we did play some good football, no doubt about it, we mixed the good with the bad. We just have got to be more consistent for a period of 70-plus minutes...
“Down will present a good challenge – Down always have good footballers, good forwards, and they are dangerous, so we’ll have be on the top of our game for that. Preparation starts this evening for that.”
Preparation for this match was a problem for McErlain, with the Magherafelt man pointing to the different Aprils the two counties experience:
“The Donegal boys hardly played for their clubs, we had boys who played seven matches in five weeks for their clubs. Which is right, and how it should be, but we had to curb a lot of the work we did.
“Many nights were walk-throughs etc, and we got one challenge match against a county team and once against a club team at the last minute because somebody let us down.”
He feels that Derry go into this morning’s qualifier draw with hope, but also hoping for some good fortune: “The draw…is an absolute lottery because there are better teams than Donegal in it.
“We will be looking for a bit of help there but we are in a decent enough place. The squad is in good form.
“We will regroup on Tuesday night and go again. The beauty this year is that there is not a lot of time to sit about and we are back out on the 9th.”
