Donegal 3-15 Down 2-10When it was over, a few Down legends from the 1990s stood among the crowd outside the Creighton Hotel.
Pints of lager in the drizzle on championship afternoons are tradition in this part of the country. It was as good a place as any for Down's old guard to toast a bittersweet season. Clones's football year - her tourist season, effectively - finished on a strange, uneasy note.
A little over 10,000 people saw Donegal and Down battle for one of the last remaining wild-card places in the All-Ireland series.
While still presenting themselves as something of a puzzle, Donegal just smoked the wounded Ulster finalists. Playing only in patches, they effortlessly chalked up perhaps their highest championship score against Ulster opposition and return to the big dance.
Only All-Ireland champions Armagh and superpowers Galway and Kerry have managed to make it this far two years running.
Despite that consistency, of the teams remaining in the championship, Brian McEniff's team will probably be given the least respect by the establishment.
That will suit them fine. The turbulence of their early-season period, the misery of their league experience and the doomsday scenario against Fermanagh presents a hefty portfolio for those who sniff at Donegal's unheralded return to the quarter-finals.
Donegal have breezed past Longford, Sligo, Tipperary and Down without the slightest hint of bother since hitting that all-time low in Fermanagh. What exactly that counts for remains uncertain but it would be foolish to suggest it counts for nothing.
"I'm pleased for the players because they had a bad time and it is good to be back in Croke Park," conceded a downbeat Brian McEniff afterwards. "Down put it up to us but in saying that, we didn't play overly well. But Ulster is tough because the teams here know each other so well."
During their brightest moments on Saturday, they illustrated their strengths. In Brendan Devenney and Adrian Sweeney, they have an attacking force as potent and exhilarating as any of those remaining.
The sight of Devenney limping off the field with 10 minutes remaining was a worry and it will be a shame for the team if he is denied a chance to shine in Donegal's biggest game in a year.
Michael Hegarty has rediscovered his game and his distribution and classy ball-carrying were the chief reasons they won this game pulling up.
John Gildea remains the all important centre of this team and although the defence is often maligned, they too have natural ball players.
Down came here in a mood for one last carefree charge. Paddy O'Rourke boldly altered the team structure in an attempt to disconcert Donegal.
In periods, they did that, with Shane Ward's 25th-minute goal the start of a 1-2 burst in 90 seconds. But from Hegarty's seventh-minute strike - a gorgeous move involving a slick interchange between Devenney and Sweeney - Down were playing catch-up.
After Christy Toye's wan shot was fumbled into the net by Mickey McVeigh, Down trailed 2-9 to 1-5 at the break and embarked on an increasingly unorthodox style as their championship expired.
Congregating in Donegal's square, they lofted huge kicks and gathered beneath in the hope of a lucky break. And they did find gaps.
Benny Coulter pointed a goal chance after 41 minutes and Shane Ward slammed a perfect chance off target on 52 minutes.
Seconds later, Down virtually walked the ball into the Donegal net with a slick sequence involving Liam Doyle, Ronan Sexton and Coulter, who tapped the ball across an utterly exposed line. But for a few brave interceptions from Niall McCready and good goalkeeping from Tony Blake, Down could have put up a big score.
But Donegal were always in the comfort zone. They seemed to score when they needed to. Midfielder Stephen McDermott sauntered with the ball for 50 yards before delivering a cracking goal on 44 minutes to leave the scores at 3-11 to 1-7.
It was sad to see James McCartan entering at that period because the game degenerated shortly after. Wee James soon got booked, and following a dispiriting few minutes of acrimony, Donegal finished with a flourish. But the contest was long over and there was to be no fairytale for Mickey Linden, 40 this week and waiting in the wings for a dramatic cameo.
"Well, it would have been nice to put Mickey on if the game had been there for us," said O'Rourke afterwards.
"We thought maybe we could win here and get a run in Croke Park. I do feel we could have got a result if we didn't make so many mistakes. Still, I am proud of our lads and I do think we are in a healthy position. We learned a lot."
So a fourth decade of All-Ireland fare in Croke Park awaits Brian McEniff. The godfather of the Donegal game has, improbably, returned a young team to the high ground of last summer.
They are clean and light and skilful and unfancied and after a long period of atonement, they at last have the opportunity of moving forward again.
DONEGAL: T Blake; N McCready, R Sweeney, M Crossan; S Carr, B Monaghan, K Cassidy; J Gildea (0-1), S McDermott (1-1); C Toye (1-1), M Hegarty (1-1), B Roper (0-1); J McGuinness, A Sweeney (0-6, one free), B Devenney (0-4). Subs: J Haran for M McGuinness (45 mins), P McGonigle for B Roper (54 mins), J McCafferty for B Devenney (63 mins, inj).
DOWN: M McVeigh; J Clarke, B Burns, M Cole; B Grant (0-3), J Lavery, A Molloy; Sean Ward, L Doyle (0-2, two frees); R Sexton (0-1), M Walsh (0-1), R Murtagh (0-1); B Coulter (1-1), A O'Prey, Shane Ward (1-0). Subs: D Hughes (0-1) for R Murtagh ( 23 mins, inj), A Scullion for Sean Ward (37 mins), S Mulholland for J Clarke (45 mins), M Higgins for A O'Prey (45 mins), J McCartan for M Walsh (55 mins).
Referee: G Kinneavy (Roscommon).
