Champions Donegal fancied for winning start as Down visit Letterkenny

Ulster SFC Quarter-final
Donegal v Down
Sunday, O’Donnell Park, 3pm

By Michael McMullan

THE last time Donegal lost an Ulster Championship game it was Down who knocked them out.

In a difficult season, Paddy Clarke had been pushed out as manager with Aidan O’Rourke and Paddy Bradley left to pick up the pieces.

Daniel Guinness, Danny Magill and Ryan Johnston were at the forefront of any heavy lifting Down needed. Goals from Pat Havern and Liam Kerr were important after Conor Laverty’s side shipped an early Jason McGee goal.

By the following season, Donegal were Ulster champions with Jim McGuinness back at the wheel.

Donnelly hoping Down’s underdog tale pays off

Shane O’Donnell, Peadar Mogan and Ryan McHugh returned to the team. Ciarán Moore was another Duracell bunny.

Last year, we had the return of Michael Murphy with starlet Finnbarr Roarty emerging from the other end of the age spectrum.

Donegal are now a big dog again. The approach to taking on Kerry in the league final was also telling.

They loaded every one of their skyscrapers along the middle third. Without the ambidextrous Shane Ryan, Kerry were unable to find any variation on kick-outs.

There was also the different approach of not using Brendan McCole on David Clifford. A signpost for a later meeting? We’ll have to wait.

It will be the loaded middle third that will have dominated Down plans. For all the improvement they’ve made, the big, mobile man in the middle is in short supply in the county.

It has led to the emergence of Ronan Burns and his risky restarts along the outside of the arc. He has the nerve but Donegal adding pace to the front line of their press against Kerry will ask another dimension to the questioning.

Down exited the Ulster Championship at the hands of eventual All-Ireland champions Armagh in 2024. They pushed Donegal for long periods last year.

After both games, Laverty spoke of the incessant level of planning that took them so far.

Over the top

They always had an extra player behind midfield to protect from Shaun Patton going long over the top on kick-outs.

There was the clogging of any vacant channels Armagh would’ve wanted to use.

Gavin Mulreany poses different questions with his ability to clip kick-outs off both feet. He has experience of doing it against Mayo in O’Donnell Park.

With MacCumhaill Park not totally ready for action, Sunday is a first championship game in Letterkenny since a 2-7 each draw with Antrim in 1951. Donegal came through in the replay.

Much of Down’s plans this week will centre around maximising their key men. Like all teams do. Odhrán Murdock and Daniel Guinness pack so much of their punch.

This time last year, in the midst of a timid atmosphere in Clones, McGuiness was stressing for Donegal to match up with Danny Magill on every Down kick-out.

Injury keeps Magill out of action. It could be left to Micéal Rooney, or one of their speedsters, to try and find vacant green grass.

Havern is the two-point threat Down will place a much emphasis on. It could be a job for Caolan McGonigle to watch as play flows to and fro along the arc.

John McGeogh has an eye for goal and Ceilum Doherty, often used as a man-marker, is playing a more regular role as a play-maker. Adam Crimmins is another to feature up front for virtually all of the season.

With the sheer size of Donegal, Down will have to scavenge for every breaking ball they can get their hands on. It is something Laverty excelled at in his playing days.

Full diesel

Not starting Hugh McFadden in last summer’s All-Ireland final was a big call by McGuinness. Not having Jason McGee on full diesel was another loss.

Both are in the engine room together. Add in the size and brilliant of Michael Langan and Donegal’s launchpad soon comes into view.

For all the planning Down did as underdogs in the last two years’ pre-championship windows, this will be the toughest test of all.

Donegal will know every inch of O’Donnell Park. Down won’t. It will be a factor.

After clinching a spot back in Division Two, Down need victory on Sunday for two reasons.

The obvious is building a championship run. The second is to keep their hopes of Sam Maguire football in their own hands, in case someone below them in the league finishing ladder makes a provincial final elsewhere.

Donegal will be oblivious to all of that. They’ll dream of another crack at Sam.

Like every year McGuinness is at the helm, the Anglo Celt Cup is the only show in town.

It’s hard to see them taking one eye off it.

Verdict: Donegal

LAST MEETING 2025 Ulster SFC – Donegal 1-19 Down 0-16
A goal from Patrick McBrearty shot reigning champions Donegal through to another Ulster final.

It was a six-point win in the end and while Down had their chances, the sense was that Donegal always had the measure of the Mourne side.

Down failed to nail a goal chance 16 minutes in, with Donegal decisive with their chances and hitting the net seconds later.

That was the pattern of the first half, with the Mournemen slowing the pace of the game down when in possession in Donegal’s half, while their opponents were faster and more confident on the ball.

Donegal: S Patton (0-1 45); F Roarty, B McCole, P Morgan; R McHugh (0-1), S McMenamin, C Moore (0-1); C Thompson, M Langan (0-2tpf); D Ó Baoill (0-3, 1tp), M Murphy (0-3, 1’45), S O’Donnell; P McBrearty (1-4, 1tpf, 2f), O Gallen (0-1), C O’Donnell (0-2)
Subs: J Brennan (0-1) for Langan (Blood sub, Brennan for Murphy, J McGee for Gallen, O McFadden Ferry for Roarty, N O’Donnell for McBrearty, A Doherty for C O’Donnell

Down: R Burns; P McCarthy, P Fegan, C Doherty; R Magill, P Laverty, M Rooney (0-1); D Guinness (0-01), R McEvoy (0-1); D Magill (0-2), O Murdock, E Branagan (0-3); J Guinness, P Havern (0-8, 2f, 1tpf, 1tp), J McGeough
Subs: C Mooney for J Guinness, S Millar for R Magill, F McElroy for McCarthy for McGeough, A Crimmins for McEvoy

LAST FIVE MEETINGS
2025 Ulster SFC Donegal 1-19 Down 0-16
2023 Ulster SFC Down 2-13 Donegal 1-11
2021 Ulster SFC Donegal 2-25 Down 1-12
2018 Ulster SFC Donegal 2-22 Down 1-12
2016 NFL Div 1 Donegal 3-15 Down 0-7

SEASON SO FAR

DONEGAL

NFL
Dublin 0-20 Donegal 1-20
Donegal 1-22 Kerry 1-18
Donegal 1-19 Mayo 0-14
Armagh 1-20 Donegal 0-19
Donegal 1-17 Galway 0-20
Roscommon 2-20 Donegal 0-20
Monaghan 3-16 Donegal 3-20

Donegal 3-20 Kerry 2-10

DOWN

NFL
Down 2-19 Clare 2-14
Limerick 1-14 Down 0-18
Down 2-15 Westmeath 1-15
Wexford 1-19 Down 1-29
Down 1-18 Fermanagh 1-15
Sligo 0-21 Down 2-25
Down 0-24 Laois 2-22
Down 0-21 Wexford 0-18 AET

TOP SCORERS

DONEGAL
Michael Langan 0-29 (8tp, 2f, 1tpf)
Conor O’Donnell 4-16 (1f)
Jason McGee 0-16 (2tp)
Shea Malone 3-7 (1tp)

DOWN
Pat Havern 1-56 (15f, 5tpf, 3tp)
Odhrán Murdock 2-24 (4tp, 1 45)
Daniel Guinness 0-26 (3tp)