Football

Player ratings: Shane O'Donnell best on a very disappointing day for Donegal

Donegal's Jason McGee tried to get away from Armagh's Rian O'Neill. <br />Pic Philip Walsh
Donegal's Jason McGee tried to get away from Armagh's Rian O'Neill.
Pic Philip Walsh
Donegal's Jason McGee tried to get away from Armagh's Rian O'Neill.
Pic Philip Walsh

Donegal ratings:

Shaun Patton: Like his team, began brightly, then fell away. His short kick-out led to the penalty, which he conceded unnecessarily, and he was too easily rounded for the third goal. 5

Caolan Ward: Did brilliantly to kick a seemingly certain goal off the line and kept Murnin reasonably quiet, but wasn’t able to stem the flow of Armagh attacks as his man linked play. 6

Brendan McCole: Has been in fine form this season but simply couldn’t cope with the strength and skill of Rian O’Neill, who seemed to stroll around the St Tiernach’s Park pitch with barely a hand on him - although he did deny him a palmed goal. 5.5

Eoghan Gallagher: Put in some good defensive work against Aidan Nugent and Andrew Murnin, with neither getting on the score-sheet, and intercepted smartly to deny Jarly Og Burns, but was loose on other occasions. 5.5

Ryan McHugh: Started superbly, foraying forward to set up one score and take another, but his form faded as quickly as his team’s. One wayward kick and bottled up on another occasion before being taken off. 6

Peadar Mogan: A bright spark in the Ulster Final but he made little or no impact apart from getting a hand in defensively. 5

Odhran McFadden Ferry: Counter-attacked fairly well initially but was put on the back foot by Jason Duffy, although his man only got one point. 5.5

Caolan McGonagle: Deployed in a deeper defensive role and blocked an early effort from Nugent. Lucky that he was only booked for clattering into Rafferty. 5.5

Jason McGee: An aerial presence and used possession effectively. Scored a second half point but never put the Armagh defence under pressure otherwise. 6.5

Ciaran Thompson: Back in defence at first but got forward to score a good point; struck a poor shot and was subbed soon after that. 5.5

Aaron Doherty: The Naomh Columba lad looked lively up alongside Murphy at first and had an early shot tipped over the bar but like so many in yellow and green he ran out of steam. 6

Michael Langan: His shooting sights were awry, kicking two wides, and fell far short of what he’s capable of. 5

Patrick McBrearty: Picked off a point from an Armagh kick-out but was sacrificed when goalkeeper Patton had to be replaced. Kept probing when he returned to the fray but to little effect. 6

Michael Murphy: The captain seemed to be in the mood, kicking an early free and a fine point, but grew increasingly frustrated. Booked for barging into McKay. Won and scored a free and ended up with 0-6 but far from his best. 6.5

Shane O’Donnell: A decent display from the St Eunan’s man, scoring four points, including the last two for Donegal when many others had given up. 7

Substitutes:

Michael Lynch: Came on while Patton was in the sin-bin and calmed matters down before going off again. 6

Jamie Brennan: The first unenforced sub, posed a few problems and notched a point. 6

Conor O’Donnell: Took over from Ward but Armagh were still strolling through the Donegal defence. 5.5

Jeaic McKelvey: Replaced McHugh but the game was long gone from Donegal. 5.5

Niall O’Donnell: Fisted a late point after coming on for Langan. 6