DONEGAL minor manager Luke Barrett says they’re venturing into new territory as they gear up for Friday night’s Ulster Championship semi-final against Armagh.

Barrett, who is in second season in charge, is hoping to follow in the footsteps of his father Shaun Paul Barrett, who led the county to the provincial title in 2016.

They qualified for the last four with a hard-fought victory over Monaghan, and Barrett says one of the tasks this week is to keep his players feet planted firmly on terra firma.

“We said ‘well done, brilliant’ but now we are focusing on Armagh.

“Monaghan was always going to be difficult and we didn’t look past it.

“But now we’re looking at Armagh and seeing how we can prepare for that.

“It’s going to be a titanic battle. They haven’t been in minor championship semi-finals in recent years like ourselves.

“It’s new territory for both of us and it’s very, very exciting.

“These boys are on top of the world now and we want to keep them there without allowing them to run away with themselves.

“They are a fantastic group with brilliant players, and they have great fun in that environment as well.

“It’s just a joy for myself and the management team to stand on the line and watch them.”

Donegal are now just 60 minutes away from a provincial final, but Barrett pointed out that the semi-final stage has not been kind to the senior or u-20 county sides in recent weeks.

“Yeah it is a huge prize, but if you look at recent weeks we have fallen short in semi-finals in the last two.

“I said to the boys enjoy your victory tonight but we have won absolutely nothing.

“We’re not in a final and there are no prizes on offer the next day. It’s about getting the head down and getting the analysis done and getting the recovery in and preparation done for Armagh next weekend.”

Donegal’s victory over Monaghan was all the more impressive as they played most of the game with only 14 men after Ethan Friel, who had been impressive up until that point, was dismissed in the first half for a second bookable offence.

However, Donegal got huge impact off their bench, with Michael Callaghan and Gary Kelly particularly to the fore.

“These boys are pushing themselves in training all the time. They are mad for action.

“You saw the two replacements who came in Michael and Gary – to have the ability to change the game like that was just brilliant.

“They added real energy. Their scores were brilliant, but Gary made a couple of turnovers down in our own 45. That’s what we are looking for, and they drive their own standards.

“What do you say at that water break? It was just we go at them and we throw off the shackles.

“Whatever we have, give it everything and if we come up short we come up short but leave nothing on the pitch.”

Donegal led by two points at half time but they knew Monaghan would put them under pressure at some point.

That was exactly how it materialised. They did fall a point behind but played some clever patient football to get back on level terms even with Stephen Mooney in irresistible form.

They then kicked for home in the final quarter scoring three unanswered points.

“We said at half time that their tails were up and it was going to be a mammoth task.

“We knew they were going to have a purple patch and we just had to weather that purple patch.

“When that came there was no panic. They knew it was going to come. Stephen Mooney is a fantastic footballer and he was always going to have a purple patch.

“He didn’t really do a lot in the first half and I thought Cormac Gallagher tied him up well.

“But you can’t keep a player like that down for the whole 60 minutes.

“Once we won a couple of balls in midfield again and started to go again, I thought we were quite composed.”