Football

Donegal: How they rated...

Armagh were no contest for Donegal as they breezed into the Ulster final by a 12-point margin
Armagh were no contest for Donegal as they breezed into the Ulster final by a 12-point margin Armagh were no contest for Donegal as they breezed into the Ulster final by a 12-point margin

Donegal ratings

Shaun Patton: Armagh probably showed too much respect to Patton’s kick-outs in the first half by allowing Donegal to run the ball from deep, which paid rich dividends. Good under a couple of high balls too. 7.5

Stephen McMenamin: Injured after the opening seconds. Not on long enough to be rated.

Neil McGee: He played the role of the belligerent door man and thrived as a result. Played the spare man role for most of the game. You could tell even Gaoth Dobhair man thought it was too easy. 7.5

Eoghan Ban Gallagher: Got on the scoresheet as he always does. Defended well when he had to and the angle of his runs into enemy territory were excellent. 8

Ryan McHugh: He coughed up an early possession but after that early mistake the Kilcar man proved elusive. Knew when to step on the gas and made things happen. Two points. Clever display. 8

Paul Brennan: Protected the centre well and forced errors out of the Armagh attackers with good, disciplined harassment. A slight injury saw him withdrawn. 7.5

STAR MAN: Peadar Mogan: The Armagh defence will wonder how Donegal's number seven was granted the freedom of Cavan town on Saturday. Great support play that yielded his well-taken goal and threw in a couple of points from play for good measure. Never put a foot wrong all afternoon. 8.5

Hugh McFadden: An absolute dog of a footballer. Every team needs a Hugh McFadden. Won ball in midfield, converted a ‘mark’, won turnovers in defence. On the way to a man-of-the-match display until injury cut his day short. 8.5

Caolan McGonigle: A super first half that yielded two points. The rehearsed movement for his 28th minute point was straight off the training ground. Put in a good second half shift too. 7.5

Ciaran Thompson: Epitomises all that is great about this Donegal team. Insatiable appetite to track back and get a hand in and his shooting from long range is a joyful sight. Evolved into a top player. 8.5

Niall O’Donnell: Just when you feel Donegal have enough shooters in their team, they have another sure-footed candidate in O’Donnell. Clever movement and not afraid to do the hard yards in the other direction. 8

Michael Langan: Signs were ominous once the towering St Michael’s man ran through the Armagh defence unopposed to score in the opening seconds. Three points from play. Impassable around the middle. 8

Eoin McHugh: One of the few Donegal players who didn’t get on the scoresheet. Work-rate was high throughout before making way late on. 7

Michael Murphy: No love lost between Murphy and Aidan Forker, the Donegal captain assisted for a couple of scores but he was pushed to the fringes of the game in a tetchy duel with the Armagh man. 6.5

Jamie Brennan: Won a brilliant turnover off Patrick Burns in the first half and was always a threat to Armagh. Grabbed two fine points while scoring high in work-rate. 8

Subs:

Jeaic McKelvey: Conceded a few scores to Jamie Clarke but all of which were consolations. 6

Andrew McClean: Got on a serious amount of ball after his 44th minute introduction. 7

Jason McGee: Slotted in the middle but the game was over at that stage. 6.5

Patrick McBrearty: Looked very lively after injury and grabbed a score. 7

Oisin Gallen: Nice point late on. 6.5