AS if deservedly defeating arch-rivals Tyrone wasn't enough, there was bonus good news for Donegal supporters – Paddy McBrearty will be available to take on Armagh in the Ulster SFc semi-final.
The Kilcar star sat out the sodden slugfest against the Red Hands, not risked on a heavy Ballybofey pitch, but boss Declan Bonner confirmed that the 27-year-old will be available for selection against the Orchard County.
Indeed McBrearty could have played a part against Mickey Harte's men but Donegal did enough to get by without him, said Bonner, having adopted a cautious approach to the brilliant attacker's involvement:
"Paddy was very, very close, really, really close to starting or being involved, but the conditions just weren't conducive to getting him back in. He will be back on the pitch with us this week and he will be ready for the semi-final… Paddy will be OK."
McBrearty last lined out for Donegal in the Division One victory over Monaghan in Ballyshannon at the start of March, although he scored 0-6 in mid-September as Kilcar beat Gweedore to reach the subsequently postponed Donegal SFC Final against champions Naomh Conaill.
Having notched 1-26 in six inter-county Championship matches last season, and 0-19 in three-and-a-half the year before – a campaign ended early by injury during the Ulster Final – McBrearty is clearly a potent weapon to add to Donegal's already impressive attacking armoury.
Although skipper Michael Murphy didn't score against Tyrone, Ciaran Thompson top-scored with 0-7, 'man of the match' Michael Langan contributed 1-2, Jamie Brennan 0-2, and Peadar Mogan supplied the assist for the goal.
Bonner was pleased with how all his players performed in very testing circumstances, against strong opposition: "Matches against Tyrone are always cagey affairs and Tyrone got the better start, no doubt about it.
"Our goal was a terrific goal, came from a long kick-out and was superbly finished. It was the score we needed at that stage to get back into the game.
"We played decent football, although the pitch and the conditions weren't conducive to free-flowing football, but we stuck to the task…
"We've won the last two Ulster championships in Clones on maybe the warmest days of the year…It's definitely winter football so you've got to adapt to the conditions. Over the next couple of weeks they're not going to improve that much so we've got to be ready for the next challenge."
Donegal have improvements to make defensively, having allowed Tyrone an early 0-5 to 0-1 lead, then gifted them their goal in the second half, but Bonner was understanding that mistakes would occur on a rain-lashed day:
"We were turning the ball over cheaply at times, but conditions were terrible out there. Tyrone's goal was a poor goal, our mistake – but I think our response was terrific, that was the winning of the game…
"We trust the system, we trust the way we play. We were disappointed with that goal and the way we gave it away but the response was terrific…
"We invited a lot of trouble on ourselves and we gave away a number of scores that we're disappointed with. For us, it was about getting over the line and we got over the line. We had some big performances out there and the lads really, really dug deep when they had to.
"We were up against a very good Tyrone team and we knew that it would come down to the small margins and luckily we got over the line. I do feel that over the 75, 76 minutes we were the better side."
Subs helped them sink Tyrone, with Eoin McHugh coming on before half-time, Andrew McClean replacing the injured full-back Neil McGee at the break, Oisin Gallen scoring a point, and Paddy McGrath and Jason McGee helping see out the victory.
"The lads did extremely well," acknowledged Bonner. "It'll always be the case now where the lads coming off the bench are going to be huge."
Paddy McBrearty might even come into that category – a worrying prospect for Armagh.
