Donegal 2-12
Fermanagh 0-11
A goal in either half from Odhran MacNiallais helped 14-man Donegal past Fermanagh in this afternoon's Ulster SFC quarter-final at Ballybofey.
MacNiallais, Martin O'Reilly and Paddy McBrearty were all in hot form for the hosts, while Fermanagh's forwards were very much off-colour, particularly in the second-half, as Tomas Corrigan's frees were about all that kept them in contention in this contest.
Having controlled proceedings early on, Rory Gallagher's side were made to weather a late first-half storm from their Erne counterparts, which saw the latter squander the chance of taking the half-time lead after talisman Sean Quigley missed an injury-time penalty.
A straight red card for Neil McGee from that penalty incident meant Donegal had to start the second-half a man down and although Pete McGrath's team closed the gap to one early in the restart, the Tir Chonaill men were able to steady the ship again thanks to MacNiallais' second major and the supporting cast done the rest to ensure a semi-final date with holders Monaghan.
Early points from McBrearty and veteran Frank McGlynn settled the hosts into this provincial quarter-final, with 10 minutes on the clock before Fermanagh drew level via singles from Corrigan (free) and wing-back Barry Mulrone.
O'Reilly nudged the Tir Chonaill men back in front a minute later and the first hammer blow would arrive soon after as McGlynn slipped MacNiallais in and the Gweedore man smashed in off the bottom of Chris Snow's crossbar in splendid fashion for the umpire's green flag.
Quigley posted the immediate response for the visitors, sailing over off the outside of his right boot, but Donegal were definitely winning the battle in the opening quarter and pushed their lead to five with points from Eoin McHugh and McBearty (free).
The lethal McBearty would have added a goal to his early tally but for a fine save from Snow to parry the Chíll Chartha man's low shot. That was a let off for Fermanagh and perhaps the wake-up call they needed, as they outscored the hosts by 0-4 to 0-1 in the closing 10 minutes of the half.
Three Corrigan frees and a terrific long range score from team captain Eoin Donnelly outweighed one from MacNiallais at the far end, lifting McGrath's charges towards the break when they should have stolen the lead in those dramatic added minutes.
After a terrific gather from Quigley at Donegal's back post, the Roslea man was stripped of possession and it should have saw Neil McGee making a routine clearance for the half-time whistle. Instead the full-back lashed out at tackling opponent Ruairi Corrigan, resulting in the awarding of a penalty and the dismissal of McGee by referee Maurice Deegan.
Quigley's resultant spot kick was parried by debutant Mark Anthony McGinley, sparing Donegal a double whammy right on the interval's eve, as they got into the dressing room with a 1-6 to 0-7 lead and a chance to reshuffle with 14.
It took Fermanagh two minutes of the resumption to find Quigley again at the back post, leaving Eamonn McGee, a late replacement for Karl Lacey, no choice but to axe down the big full-forward just outside the square and Corrigan tapped over his fifth.
That would be as good as it got from an Erne perspective though, as their opponents conjured a devastating three-minute spell which saw them fire an unanswered 1-2 to reassume control of this encounter.
A Michael Murphy free was backed up by MacNiallais finishing off a brilliantly orchestrated move by the Donegal attack to the visitors' net, and when Murphy was hauled down by Che Cullen things would go from bad to worse for the trailers as they lost their instrumental full-back to Deegan's black card.
Gallagher's men closed the door with the next three scores via O'Reilly (2) and McBearty ahead of Corrigan ending a 19-minute scoring drought for the underdogs.
The Oliver Plunkett's clubman bumped up his personal tally up to 0-7 after Ryan Jones blasted over a goal chance for the Erne men, narrowing the gap to five.
However, it didn't alter the 2014 champions from continuing to dictate the pace until the last whistle, as Eoin McHugh sailed over their 11th point before sub Colm McFadden registered their last from a free to secure yet another high stakes showdown against the Farney men on Saturday week.
Donegal - M A McGinley; P McGrath, N McGee, E McGee; R McHugh, F McGlynn (0-1), A Thompson; R Kavanagh, H McFadden; E McHugh (0-2), M McElhinney (0-1), O MacNiallais (2-1); P McBrearty (0-3, 1f), M Murphy (0-1f), M O'Reilly (0-2). Subs: L McLoone for R Kavanagh, C Toye for L McLoone, R Kavanagh for F McGlynn, M McHugh for M McElhinney, C McFadden (0-1f) for P McBrearty.
Fermanagh - C Snow; M Jones, C Cullen, M O'Brien; D McCusker, J McMahon, B Mulrone (0-1); E Donnelly (0-1), A Breen; P McCusker, R Jones (0-1), R O'Callaghan; R Corrigan, S Quigley (0-1), T Corrigan (0-7f). Subs: D Kelly for C Cullen (BC), N Cassidy for R Corrigan, R Lyons for A Breen, C Jones for J McMahon, D Teague for P McCusker, C Flaherty for M O'Brien.
Referee - M Deegan.
Tweet