National Forum

Donegal V Fermanagh Ulster SFC Final 2018

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Replying To gotmilk:  "It really feels like Christmas eve at the minute. I haven't been this nervous about a game in years. The cock sureness of the Donegal posters reminds me of the monaghan fans going into the previous game. The fermanagh players have a certain steel about them this year too. Very focussed and mind set on the job at hand. I'm gonna go make a bold statement and say Fermanagh are going to win this by 3 points. Jesus christ I pray and hope i'm right.

If we win i'm either vanishing from this site for a few days or doing a couple of random drunk posts. Either way this is me signing off until after the Ulster Final."
Commiserations on the result today. Fermanagh needed to get a lead early to have any chance but the early goal killed the game off effectively. As for the point regarding cocksure Donegal supporters you are talking about a very small portion and posters who come out of the woodwork every now and again. I think most Donegal posters here are generally respectful and don't lose the run of themselves. Best of luck in ur qualifier and hopefully ye might make the Super 8's yet.

panamasam (Australia) - Posts: 2779 - 24/06/2018 18:23:03    2114285

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Unfortunately for Fermanagh they did not get the start they needed to have a chance with the Ryan McHugh goal effectively killing the game as a contest for me. The evolution of Eoin Ban is staggering and big thanks to whoever was doing his Aussie rules trials back earlier in the year for not fancying him. He is very much in the style of Lee Keegan when attacking which is the biggest compliment I can pay him. Reaching the Super 8's was imperative for Donegal so really looking forward to seeing how we get on there. I think after we play the Dubs we will know where Donegal are at as the standard in Ulster is not what it was.

panamasam (Australia) - Posts: 2779 - 24/06/2018 18:30:42    2114288

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Replying To gotmilk:  "Can everyone outside of Donegal (even those inside it) pray for a Fermanagh win tomorrow. I genuinely think I would be reduced to tears if Fermanagh win tomorrow."
Hard luck me auld frenemy. I mean that from bottom of my heart. I really hoped you would do it. Would have been magnificent for the sport. Hard luck. Chin up and aim for super 8s.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 24/06/2018 18:47:28    2114293

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Replying To ruanua:  "Lot of what ifs and whatabouts on this thread
This is the easiest game this year to analyse

If anyone should know that RG is a one trick pony it's Donegal people we had 3 years of trying to defend a 1 point lead and then losing
Fermanagh squeezed past Monaghan
1) they had a dream start
2) McManus misfired badly
3) Monaghan did what Monaghan do they follow a massive win( Tyrone) with a damp squib as they have done for the past 5 years
4) even with all that it took a last minute goal
5) a bad Monaghan performance should still have beaten a firing on all cylinders Fermanagh

The only scenario where Fermanagh win this is 2-3 early first half goals otherwise this is gong to be Turkey shoot. Donegal have too much pace and firepower and can score at will from distance.
Once Donegal go 3.up Fermanagh have no plan B and Donegal will rip them asunder.
Bonner playing the mind games well - I can see 3 Fermanagh players getting black or red and that's just for fouling Ryan McHugh

Perdiction 3-15 to 1-6,"
Mystic Meg!!!! A lot off your predictions came though!!!

The_Fridge (Tyrone) - Posts: 2088 - 24/06/2018 19:38:58    2114304

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Congrats and well done to our lads for a job well done. I think that the nervous start was almost expectable but I didn't realise that we would boss the middle the way that we did for much of the game. We still are nervous looking at the back when forwards run, twist and turn or overlap at us. We break very well and I have no complaints at all about our efforts on the counter.


Big shout out to the Fermanagh support today who totally outnumbered us and brought a really special atmosphere to clones. I don't remember it ever been as noisy or as colourful before throw in or in the towns along the way through Fermanagh.

Good luck going forward.

Donegalman (None) - Posts: 3830 - 24/06/2018 19:47:05    2114307

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Replying To The_Fridge:  "Mystic Meg!!!! A lot off your predictions came though!!!"
Yeah as I said it was an easy game to predict as RG never has a plan B ( as Donegal know to their cost 15-17)

Fermanagh scoring 0-12 would worry me. We have conceded enough to win games in four outings so far in particular a lot of soft frees

Also we should have had at least 5 goals - Brennan had a couple of chances - and we took a couple of points with free men in front of open goal ( mark Mchugh at one point )

ruanua (Donegal) - Posts: 4966 - 24/06/2018 20:32:22    2114328

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Replying To neverright:  "Donegal were very impressive - they completely crowded out the midfield, negating Fermanagh's main strength the fielding ability of Jones and Donnelly. Ban Gallagher is a brilliant player and caused havoc down the right. Disappointing from Fermanagh and it will be difficult for Rory to pick them up after this. I thought the ref was very harsh on Ryan Jones - his tackle (for the second yellow) was deflected up off the arm by the movement of the Donegal player.
As regards the RTE pundits, if the standards that Brolly uses to judge the players was applied to his punditry, he would be off immediately."
Jones was lucky to only see yellow for the first challenge. It was a cheap shot with a closed fist, similar to the incident which saw Peter Harte being sent off earlier in the championship.

themaddog (Wicklow) - Posts: 130 - 24/06/2018 20:35:12    2114331

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Replying To Donegalman:  "Congrats and well done to our lads for a job well done. I think that the nervous start was almost expectable but I didn't realise that we would boss the middle the way that we did for much of the game. We still are nervous looking at the back when forwards run, twist and turn or overlap at us. We break very well and I have no complaints at all about our efforts on the counter.


Big shout out to the Fermanagh support today who totally outnumbered us and brought a really special atmosphere to clones. I don't remember it ever been as noisy or as colourful before throw in or in the towns along the way through Fermanagh.

Good luck going forward."
I meant to share the same sentiments before. Clones was as full today as I can ever remember much down to the magnificent support that Fermanagh had. The supporters brought great colour and despite the scoreline in the 2nd half there was no mass exodus with many staying onto the end. The town was full of Fermanagh supporters after the game and if I had the luxury I would have loved to stay on for a few drinks afterwards. You were a credit to ur county today and again all the best in ur qualifier game.

panamasam (Australia) - Posts: 2779 - 24/06/2018 20:41:31    2114335

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Good win for Donegal and great to win an Ulster title considering how bad we were last year. Donegal played far more defensively today than in our previous 3 championship outings, not sure why that was, maybe afraid of Fermanagh counter attacking. The heat was stiffling and that could have played a part as well.

The game more or less panned out as I thought it would, if Donegal got a lead then they would struggle. Fermanagh needed to stay within touching distance and once the first goal went in there looked to be only one winner. Difficult to say how good Donegal are as we have had no test in Ulster but we will soon find out when we play Dublin.

Finally big shout out to the Fermanagh supporters who were magnificant. The atmosphere they generated before the game was amazing. They also stayed right to the end and took their loss graciously, a real credit to their county.

Green_Gold (Donegal) - Posts: 1873 - 24/06/2018 20:54:57    2114342

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Replying To Green_Gold:  "Good win for Donegal and great to win an Ulster title considering how bad we were last year. Donegal played far more defensively today than in our previous 3 championship outings, not sure why that was, maybe afraid of Fermanagh counter attacking. The heat was stiffling and that could have played a part as well.

The game more or less panned out as I thought it would, if Donegal got a lead then they would struggle. Fermanagh needed to stay within touching distance and once the first goal went in there looked to be only one winner. Difficult to say how good Donegal are as we have had no test in Ulster but we will soon find out when we play Dublin.

Finally big shout out to the Fermanagh supporters who were magnificant. The atmosphere they generated before the game was amazing. They also stayed right to the end and took their loss graciously, a real credit to their county."
Re playing defensively - It looked to me that Bonner was using the back line as a rest station.
Nearly everyone of the 15 took a turn in the full back line - often with th FB line itself playing further forward. ( Eoin ban and McGrath in particular) makes sense given the heat. FB as a handy place to be given opposition didnt have a forward line Sean quigley was double marked anytime he came inside the 45 . Big Seamie livened things up when he came on though

ruanua (Donegal) - Posts: 4966 - 24/06/2018 21:57:09    2114382

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Replying To ruanua:  "Re playing defensively - It looked to me that Bonner was using the back line as a rest station.
Nearly everyone of the 15 took a turn in the full back line - often with th FB line itself playing further forward. ( Eoin ban and McGrath in particular) makes sense given the heat. FB as a handy place to be given opposition didnt have a forward line Sean quigley was double marked anytime he came inside the 45 . Big Seamie livened things up when he came on though"
You make a good point there about the full back line being a resting zone, it makes sense as the heat was a killer today. Just thought we came firing out of the blocks against Derry and Down but more reserved for the first 10 minutes today. Nerves could also have been a factor as its was a first Ulster final for some of the Donegal players.

We are playing some nice football but hard to get a handle on how good we are. Remember Tyrone strolled through Ulster last year in a similar fashion. We are going to find out if Donegal are the real deal in 3 weeks times against Dublin in the neutral venue that is Croke Park ha ha.

Green_Gold (Donegal) - Posts: 1873 - 24/06/2018 23:28:00    2114439

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Great win today.
Lovely to see the Fermanagh fans in huge numbers enjoying themselves before, during and after the match. Well done to Rory for getting them there. Not many would have. Be a lovely to see them in the Super 8s.

Like Tyrone last year in Ulster, Dublin will give us a realistic idea of where we are at. An exciting team developing but are we a year away from our full development? Let's see. Well done Donegal

TheRock2121 (Donegal) - Posts: 1135 - 24/06/2018 23:55:28    2114450

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Replying To Green_Gold:  "You make a good point there about the full back line being a resting zone, it makes sense as the heat was a killer today. Just thought we came firing out of the blocks against Derry and Down but more reserved for the first 10 minutes today. Nerves could also have been a factor as its was a first Ulster final for some of the Donegal players.

We are playing some nice football but hard to get a handle on how good we are. Remember Tyrone strolled through Ulster last year in a similar fashion. We are going to find out if Donegal are the real deal in 3 weeks times against Dublin in the neutral venue that is Croke Park ha ha."
I think in relation to Tyrone from last year Donegal are far more of an attacking threat. Tyrone def had a better defensive structure however meant nothing when they played Dublin. Hopefully we give Dublin a decent game and learn from the experience. The way the fixtures have fallen really are a detriment to Donegal. Could be a case with nothing to play for come our last fixture/home game. But sure lets see who comes through and take it from there. From now on anything is a bonus in my eyes.

panamasam (Australia) - Posts: 2779 - 25/06/2018 00:27:46    2114459

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Balls
Balls
Balls


Always next year lads

gotmilk (Fermanagh) - Posts: 4971 - 25/06/2018 04:10:23    2114474

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Absolutely delighted to be Ulster Champions again. It took us about 10 minutes to settle into it but once we did the attacking talent really shone through. Ryan's goal was an absolute joy, what a player he is. Very happy with the tactics from Bonner on a scorching day, he was clearly getting players to rotate in and out to get a rest. Jamie Brennan in the full back line and Paddy McGrath and Eoghan Bán getting on the scoresheet is indicative of that. Murphy didn't stay in the full forward line too much, mostly operated around the 45 but there was one big ball into him that he nearly gathered which was great to see, hoping for more of that against the Dubs. Main worry going forward would be ruthlessness, we left a few goals out there yesterday that I don't think the Dubs would have missed but look, that's nitpicking. Really over the moon, you could see how much it meant to everyone to win the title again.

Hard luck to Fermanagh, I hope they can bounce back and make it to the Super 8s. Great support from them yesterday.

JoeSoap (Donegal) - Posts: 1432 - 25/06/2018 09:49:10    2114520

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Firstly a massive congratulations to Declan and the lads. Ulster may not be the fiercely competitive province that it was but silverware is not to be sniffed at either especially after the heartbreaking defeats we suffered in 2015 and 2016. I'm delighted for Declan. Spoofers like Brolly were unfairly castigating him for his Donegal underage teams' style of play. I think it's fair to say he has well and truly rammed that criticism down their throats. Winning Ulster with an average score of 25 points per game is some going.

Unfortunately for Fermanagh they're damned if they do and damned if they don't. Rory sets them up defensively to keep them in games but a forewarned Donegal weren't likely to be complacent given what happened to Monaghan. But if Fermanagh had gone toe to toe with Donegal yesterday and ended up losing heavily they would no doubt have been criticized for their naivety. It was a disappointing end for their supporters. Fair play to them the craic was 90 in and around the Creighton before the game!

I thought we managed the game very well. As others have mentioned it looked as though there was a policy of attacking in waves, then take a break. Eoghan Ban was superb. He was named at number 4 but it was just an all action display similar to Lee Keegan when he's at his rampant best. He still has a bit to go to reach the Mayo man's levels but the parallels are definitely there.

Looking forward to Dublin it should be a cracker. I just hope we have a good cut at it now. Everyone is expecting a Dublin win so the players can hopefully approach it without fear. I'd be quietly confident we can ruffle their feathers!

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 9104 - 25/06/2018 10:26:55    2114540

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Football won and congratulations to Donegal. Fermanagh's style of play is awful to watch and the reality is they are not a good team. Brolly was correct in what he said about Monaghan falling into the trap. I'm hoping we don't see Fermanagh in the super 8's - as for Donegal they are a serious outfit. It's unlikely Dublin will be caught this year but football is shaping up to having four powerhouses over the next couple of years - Dublin, Kerry, Galway and Donegal. I expect those teams to dominate their provinces and compete for Sam.

sam1884 (UK) - Posts: 999 - 25/06/2018 11:01:50    2114562

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Great performance by Donegal yesterday. Ryan McHugh is a class act.

gaelicgab (USA) - Posts: 878 - 25/06/2018 15:14:38    2114727

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Replying To AnBuachaillGlas:  "Ah don't me wrong .. I like Donegal and they are most people's second team in fermanagh .. I do also love how confident you and try and Bonner might this filters down to the team ... you must realise that we have beaten a better team than you already and you guys haven't been tested at all. You do also realise that when a team like Fermanagh beats a tier 1 team playing defensively everyone declares how bdly the tier 1 team does unless u beat them in a shoot out the lower team never gets the credit..
I will freely admit that Donegal are overwhelming favourites even though the leagues say we are both deserving of div 2 football next year
I will also say that in my many many years following Fermanagh I have never seen such cohesion such unity of purpose such belief and we also have something that a team playing their 7th final in 8 years could never have ... and that's the sheer hunger and drive to win this ONE match .. not super 8s not any all Ireland .. we want THIS match and no other like nothing else on earth and I totally can't wait to see that hunger manifested on the pitch in Clones ...
Donegal you are man for man better players .. I get that .. but you can never bring what we will bring to this match ... only a success starved.. insulted belittled county like ours has it .. and hell it could turn the tide as this game will be won or lost on the slimmest of events and battles and moments ... ooooh cmon Fermanagh"
You've beaten abetter team than us already? in your dreams maybe.

Tirchonaill1 (Donegal) - Posts: 2733 - 26/06/2018 12:13:59    2115298

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Credit to the Fermanagh fans who went to Clones last Sunday, especially those on the O'Duffy terrace who brought what was the joint best atmosphere at an Ulster final I've experienced, the flares, voice from the Fermanagh fans and the roar alone when the team ran towards the goals after their team photo and match parade was something else,

MonaghanGlory (Monaghan) - Posts: 738 - 28/06/2018 00:06:52    2116244

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