Donegal 2-11 Kildare 1-9
It was far from straightforward, but Donegal kept their nerve to secure a valuable Division One win over Kildare.
The first audible gasp of the afternoon greeted the opening of the Ballybofey sky half-an-hour before throw-in. It felt like one of ‘those’ afternoons was in store.
The moody weather settled considerably, although the enforced withdrawal of Michael Murphy to an injury in the 21st minute felt like a cloud was overhanging Donegal.
“Any time Michael goes off you worry about it,” Declan Bonner said.
Bonner deferred a diagnosis to his medical staff, but remarked that “there seems to be some damage done”.
Murphy barely had time to fasten the tracksuit zipper when Jimmy Hyland was rising to bat home a Ben McCormack ball that dropped invitingly. Hyland seemed to ghost into position and the goal was an alarm call of sorts for Donegal.
Within four minutes they had the pendulum swung in their favour again. Eoghan Ban Gallagher provided the final offload and Patrick McBrearty found the bottom corner.
In added time at the end of the first half, Ryan McHugh was picked out by Michael Langan and riffled past Aaron O’Neill, handing Donegal a 2-7 to 1-4 cushion at half-time.
Kildare reduced the arrears bit by bit but Glenn Ryan’s men squandered several chances that might’ve made Donegal sweat a little more. A week previously, Donegal were pegged back from five up to draw with Mayo down the home stretch.
That was surely in the minds when Paddy Woodgate, Kevin Flynn and corner-back Ryan Houlihan pulled the Lilywhites within a goal. That, though, was as close as they went.
“Going home, we’re disappointed,” said Glenn Ryan, the Kildare manager surely sighing beneath a face covering. “The mood was to try and build on that performance against Kerry and try to make things a bit better. There were elements that we did improve on. We’ll strive to get better in others.”
Jason McGee, who posted an early point in a fine outing, was also forced to hobble off in the second half, although Bonner was hoping that his ailment was nothing more serious than ‘a bang’.
Sub Shane O’Donnell clipped a fine point late in the game, while Langan, an All-Star nominee in 2021, took the baton to steer Donegal away from choppy waters. Langan scored two late points to ensure the avoidance of any late drama this time.
“He is one of the top players in the country and he’s developing well,” Bonner said of the St Michael’s player.
“Michael is a quiet individual, but he does his talking on the pitch. He is a real good athlete and that was another good performance.”
“Lads are standing to stand up and that’s important for us moving forward.”
The Donegal bus heads for Kerry in a fortnight and Bonner was already thinking of the Kingdom as he stood in a shivering carpark outside the dressingroom.
“We finished better,” he nodded.
“When you’re in Division One, you’re playing top teams. We didn’t cope against Mayo. We should have seen that out - but it was a learning curve for us.
“We have a lot of young lads coming on. We didn’t have Michael (Murphy) for the majority of this game and we don’t have Hughie (McFadden), who is our vice captain.
“We’ll get ready for the next challenge now. Division One is a very unforgiving place. You need to be at the levels every day you go out. Hopefully we’ll have one or two more experienced players back for the next game.
“We still have plenty of room for improvement. We gave the ball away far too cheaply at times so we need to be better on the ball.”
Donegal: S Patton; C Ward, B McCole, O McFadden-Ferry; T McClenaghan, E Gallagher, P Brennan; J McGee (0-1), C McGonagle; P Mogan, R McHugh (1-1), M Langan (0-4, 0-1 free); P McBrearty (1-1), M Murphy C O'Donnell (0-3). Subs: C McGuinness for Murphy (21), S O'Donnell (0-1) for McGee (38), E O'Donnell for McClenaghan (50), M Curran for Brennan (60).
Kildare: A O'Neill; M O'Grady, S Ryan, R Houlihan (0-1); J Sargent, J Murray, T Archibold; K Feely, K Flynn (0-1); P Tuohy (0-1), P Cribbin, B McCormack; P Woodgate (0-2, 0-2 frees), D Flynn, J Hyland (1-4, 0-1 free, 0-1 mark). Subs: A Masterson for Flynn (21), N Flynn for McCormack (50), P McDermott for Tuohy (58), B McLoughlin for Woodgate (60), F Conway for Cribbin (65).
Referee: B Cassidy (Derry).
