Donegal fall to Dublin
06.05.10
Donegal...1-8
Dublin...1-10
Report, Inishowen Independent
DONEGAL came within inches – the width of the crossbar –
of winning the Cadbury’s All-Ireland U21 Championship on
Saturday night, but ultimately fell to two point defeat
to Dublin.
Donegal had played second fiddle to Dublin for large
parts of the game, but showed great character and
resolve to stay in touch and were trailing by two points
when presented with a chance to win it a minute into
injury time when they were awarded a penalty after
Cillian Morrisson had been felled in the parallelogram.
Michael Murphy, the team’s talisman and the player who
more than anyone else had been so crucial in the run to
the All-Ireland final, smacked the shot high and hard
but the ball struck the crossbar and the Dublin defence
won the rebound and cleared their lines. Three inches
lower and Donegal would have been All-Ireland champions,
but as it was, Dublin took the title.
Dublin full back Rory O’Carroll picked up the man of the
match award, presumably for subduing Murphy, but the
real credit was due to those further out the field.
The Dublin half backs, midfielders and half forwards set
up a screen across the middle third of the pitch that
Donegal couldn’t seem to break down, especially in the
first half. As a result, Donegal couldn’t get inside the
Dublin 65, or within 50 yards of Murphy to launch high
balls down on top of him.
Robert McCarthy opened the scoring for the Dubs with a
point on two minutes after Cian Mullins had poked a hole
in Donegal’s blanket defence. Dermot Molloy, Donegal’s
chief scoring threat on the night, responded with a
pointed free soon after and doubled Donegal’s tally with
a 43m free off the ground on the sixth minute.
But Dublin took charge after that, the impressive Nicky
Devereux surged forward from his half back berth and
played a high ball into Dean Rock who drew the sides
level. Rock looked dangerous over the hour, but was well
marshalled by both Paddy McGrath and Ciaran Boyle. Rock
converted a 45 on 11 minutes but three points in as many
minutes midway through the half, from Gary Sweeney,
Devereux and another Rock free, had Dublin 0-6 to 0-2
ahead and in danger of casting Donegal adrift in their
wake.
Another free from distance from Dermot Molloy ended
Dublin’s run of five unanswered points, and Molloy got
Donegal’s first point from play on 28 minutes. James
Carroll fed a long ball into Michael Murphy but he
slipped and was shepherded out of the scoring zone. He
picked out the unmarked Molloy with a 40m crossfield
pass and the Naomh Conaill 19 year old took a fine point
from a tight angle on the left wing.
Manager Jim McGuinness said afterwards that a virus had
laid several of the squad low in the lead up to the
final, and that players didn’t have the energy to play
with the same intensity in the final as they’d
demonstrated in the previous rounds. Two of the players
afflicted, including Naomh Colmcille’s Tommy McKinley,
were called ashore before half time to be replaced by
Cillian Morrisson and Moville’s Danny Murphy.
The substitutions had an almost instant impact. Michael
Murphy won a high ball, one of the few to reach him in
the first period, but drove his shot narrowly wide on 29
minutes, but Leo McLoone found the net moments later to
give Donegal a 1-4 to 0-6 half time lead. McLoone surged
through the middle of the Dublin defence, exchanging
passes with James Carroll and Mark McHugh before a
one-two with Morrisson presented him with a simple tap
in from close range.
Having played none, Donegal led by a point at half time.
Dublin equalised through Mark Coughlan immediately on
the restart, but Donegal enjoyed their best spell in the
15 minutes after the break as they finally imposed
themselves on the game with Conor Classon, and
particularly Kevin Mulhern, coming to the fore.
Donegal added two points in the 41st and 42 minutes.
Kevin Mulhern’s long ball in was won by Michael Murphy
and he pointed left footed before moments later Danny
Murphy – who looked lively in this 35 minutes on the
pitch – played a clever pass into Morrisson for the
later to twist and turn and extend Donegal’s lead to two
points, 1-6 to 0-7.
But Dublin responded with a hammer blow, Gary Sweeney
bursting through the defence to slam an unstoppable shot
past Peter Boyle and into the net. It was the first goal
conceded by Donegal in this championship.
Donegal responded immediately, and Dermot Molloy was
tripped just outside the 13m line and pointed the
resulting free to draw the sides level.
But the momentum was with the Dubs, who finished the
game strongly as Donegal wilted. Full back Ciaran Boyle
was under pressure when he inexplicably passed to Ciaran
Dorney inside the 20m line and Dublin’s corner forward
didn’t need a second invitation, pointing with ease.
Dean Rock added a 40 metre free on 57 minutes and
Michael Murphy and Barry O’Rourke swapped points as the
game entered injury time.
Dublin were leading by two when Morrisson won the
penalty 45 seconds into injury time and the stage was
set for a famous smash and grab. Michael Murphy hit the
penalty with some authority, but watched in horror as it
smashed off the crossbar.
It was a cruel conclusion for the Glenswilly man and his
Donegal teammates, but that’s sport. |
Dublin: Vincent
Whelan; Eoin Culligan, Rory O’Carroll, Darragh Nelson;
John Cooper, James McCarthy, Nicky Devereux (0-1); Sean
Murray, Cian Mullins; Mark Coughlan (0-1), Ted Furman,
Gary Sweeney (1-1), Robert McCarthy (0-1), Dean Rock
(0-4, 2f, 1 ‘45), Ciaran Dorney (0-1). Subs: David Quinn
for R. McCarthy (half time), Ciaran Reddin for J.
McCarthy (42 mins), Barry O’Rourke (0-1) for Furman (48
mins), Sean McGuinness for Nelson (50 mins), Niall
Brogan for Dorney (73 mins)
Donegal: Peter Boyle; Eamonn Doherty, Ciaran
Boyle, Paddy McGrath; Declan Walsh, Thomas McKinley,
Conor Classon; Kevin Mulhern, Danny Curran; Mark McHugh,
Michael Murphy (0-2, 1f), Dermot Molloy (0-5, 4f); James
Carroll, Leo McLoone (1-0), Antoin McFadden. Subs:
Cillian Morrison (0-1) for McFadden (28 mins), Danny
Murphy for McKinley (28 mins), Ciaran McGinley for
Carroll (63 mins), Sean O’Kennedy for Curran (67)
For full coverage of all your weekend sport, read the
Inishowen Independent. |
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