1. Shaun Patton (Donegal)
THE Letterkenny man has established himself as one of the best ‘keepers in the land and although he will be a shade disappointed by Mayo’s first goal, he more than made up for it with a brilliant kicking display that laid so many platforms for Donegal’s attack.
2. Peter Fegan (Down)
ON his National League debut, the energetic Burren man picked up Liam Boland in the first half and then Kevin O’Halloran in the second half, keeping the latter very quiet. A fine start.
3. Ricky Johnston (Antrim)
PICKED up Wexford’s target man Jonathan Bealin and was touch-tight to him all day, breaking a number of difficult aerial balls away as well as involving himself in plenty of Antrim’s counter raids.
4. Eoghan Bán Gallagher (Donegal)
HIS first game back after a long spell out with injury, Gallagher looked as though he’d never been away. Troubled Mayo all night with his athletic and powerful running from deep.
5. Eunan Walsh (Antrim)
PLAYED at wing-forward and hugged a wide position from where he cut inside to score the crucial first goal for Antrim, but equally important was the way he nullified Wexford’s best player, Niall Hughes, on kickouts.
6. Aidan Forker (Armagh)
HAS really grown into his man-marking duties in the Armagh defence, this time doing another fine job on Marty Reilly as he did last summer, and getting up to lend his hand in attack.
7. Liam Rafferty (Tyrone)
PLAYED in a wing-back role despite wearing four on his back, and offered a lot to Tyrone going forward, not least in his two points. The Galbally man kicked one off either side in a notable performance.
8. Michael Murphy (Donegal)
THE man does what the man does. His inclusion was something of a surprise after sitting out the McKenna Cup but he looked fresh and fit as he patrolled the surroundings of Ballybofey, scoring nine points from dead balls.
9. Stephen McGullion (Fermanagh)
SINGLED out for praise his manager Ryan McMenamin afterwards, McGullion gave “an exhibition of fielding” in his battle against Tommy Moolick.
10. Ryan Jones (Fermanagh)
ON a day when the Ernemen showed signs of a more adventurous approach in attack, Jones was given a licence and backed it up with three points from play.
11. Stefan Campbell (Armagh)
GIVEN the responsibility of the captaincy, Campbell has stepped up with an excellent start to the season. Ran a lot of the game for Armagh on Saturday night and assumed penalty-taking duties to help himself to 1-2 overall.
12. Darren McCurry (Tyrone)
FOR all that Tyrone have lost in attack over the winter, McCurry’s fine form has breathed some confidence back into the Red Hands. Looks sharp and hungry, finishing with 1-6 against a Meath defence that struggled to cope with him.
13. Conor McManus (Monaghan)
TOOK the McKenna Cup off but was quickly into gear as he took the fight to Galway, registering six points for the Farney including a couple of superb efforts from tight angles.
14. Owen McCabe (Down)
A BIG unit, he played the first half on the edge of the square and was a target for repeated long balls, winning three close to goal, one of them leading to a goal chance that he fired over late on. Went out to midfield for most of the second half and was direct from there.
15. Conor Turbitt (Armagh)
THE dream National League debut for the young Clann Eireann forward, taking 1-6 home with himself, 1-5 from play and the other from a brillianty-taken mark. A wonderfully confident and assured performance. Knows where the posts are.
