For the second Sunday this summer, Donegal left the field at half-time having produced a low-key and low scoring first half. They traded seven points with Antrim and then sat down to talk about what must have been a frustrating opening period.
“Not frustrated” said Jim McGuinness afterwards of the half-time chat.
“Karl [Lacey] not being in and the loss of Rory [Kavanagh] and Neil [Gallagher] maybe unnerved us a bit. And Antrim played very well. They had a game plan and they were looking to hit scores from long range and they were penetrating well.
“I said in the lead into the game that they kicked 1-10 in the first half against Fermanagh; that is sometimes lost on people. They think it is sound bites but we knew the threat they presented.”
“The one thing we did say at half time was that our performance wasn’t reflective of the work we had done over the last month. But it did seem to come out in the wash the longer the game went on, you know. This victory gives us another four weeks and we are delighted to get through.”
In a manner reminiscent of the Derry game, Donegal seemed intent on dispatching the opposition in a hurry.
Leo McLoone lobbed a point immediately after the restart and then the Glenties man found a path towards goal and finished neatly.
“It is nice to see it,” McGuinness said. “A very good finish. He is cool when he gets in on goal . . . he did the same a few years ago here in an Ulster final. It was nice to see Jigger [Darach O’Connor] as well...I was hoping for a point and then he turns back onto his right foot and hit a goal. It was a bit of class and he does have that wee trick up his sleeve which is nice in a forward. And I think he was well goosed by the time we took him off. Because he ran himself into the ground.”
For Liam Bradley, that second half was watching reality assert itself.
“Look, we are Division Four. They are Division One,” he said afterwards. For 35 minutes, Antrim did their best to convince us that none of that mattered. Then, the scene changed in a blur. Quickly, Antrim fell considerably behind and before they knew it, Donegal were out of sight.
“We gave the ball away in the middle twice and you don’t give the ball away against these guys because they will hurt you,” Bradley said of Donegal’s scoring rush.
“ It was possession we had and whether it was fatigue or the occasion . . ..we gave the ball away and that was it – 13 points probably flattered Donegal and I think Jim will say that. People will talk about the class of Donegal and that but we had some massive performances out there as well . . ..the likes of Conor Murray and Sean McVeigh.
“Did Michael Murphy score from play today? One point. Well, McVeigh was a colossus. He didn’t even know he was playing full back until Friday night and I thought he was brilliant. But Donegal are a massive team and they will be there or thereabouts in September.”
