Karl Lacey says Donegal were not going to be derailed by Monaghan's overt physicality.

The former Footballer of the Year led by example at Clones on Sunday as the Tir Chonail men overcame the Farney County to reclaim the Anglo-Celt Cup.

Lacey says they were ready for a physical contest and were determined not to be knocked out of their stride by the defending champions.

"We knew Monaghan were going to bring that to the table," the inspirational centre back told The Irish News. "Monaghan are a very, very physical team.

"We knew that was going to happen. It was up to us to keep playing football and keep the ball moving.

"We couldn't afford to mind that stuff. We just had to play on.

"We had a good bench. We had boys like Rory Kavanagh, Martin McElhinney, and Patrick McBrearty to come on. When you have that talent on the bench it gives you a massive lift and they gave us a great lift in the second half." Tweet

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