Donegal charge through Louth to reach All-Ireland quarter-final

All-Ireland SFC preliminary quarter-final: Donegal 2-22 Louth 0-12

On a day when Louth’s satnav malfunctioned, Donegal set their compass for Croke Park.

Conor O’Donnell and Ciaran Thompson goaled as Jim McGuinness’s side safely booked a place in the All-Ireland quarter-finals.

Donegal outscored Louth 1-16 to 0-5 in a lopsided second half to ease into the last eight.

Louth, who stayed overnight in the Killyhevlin Hotel in Enniskillen, took a wrong turn on the way to Ballybofey and managed to end up in Sligo.

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“The honest to God truth was human error in our navigation,” Louth manager Ger Brennan said. “But the Atlantic Way looks good. We’ll chance that the next day.”

Donegal will be on their travels again and O’Donnell’s goal was the key score of the first half, helping the Ulster champions to lead 1-6 to 0-7 at the changeover.

O’Donnell fired home after being put clear by Michael Langan in the 34th minute. Until then, Ryan Burns’ four points helped keep Louth firmly on the coattails.

Louth's Craig Lennon in action against Donegal's Ciarán Moore and Finnbarr Roarty. Photograph: Lorcan Doherty/Inpho

Sam Mulroy’s free started the ball rolling in the second half, bringing Louth to within a point, but their afternoon – and their season – soon capsized.

Donegal hit five points in as many minutes, including a roof-raising two-pointer by Michael Murphy, before Thompson drilled home a second goal for the hosts.

Thompson, making his 50th championship appearance in Donegal’s colours, beat Niall McDonnell from distance.

“That’s the first goal he’s ever scored in championship football,” McGuinness enthused about his fellow Naomh Conaill man.

By the end, Donegal had 12 different players on the scoresheet, including a two-pointer by Michael Langan, playing his 99th game for the county.

Teenage corner back Finnbarr Roarty popped up with two points, including a fisted effort to kick-start Donegal’s second-half surge.

“He’s like a breath of fresh air for everybody watching him,” McGuinness said. “For me the most important adjustment that he’s made is on the ball. He’s always been a brilliant tenacious defender the whole way up through the ranks, but now he’s playing at senior intercounty level and he’s difficult to take the ball off as well.”

Conor O'Donnell scores goal for Donegal. Photograph: Lorcan Doherty/Inpho

In 2020 and 2021, Mulroy worked closely with McGuinness, who had a spell working with the Naomh Máirtín club in Louth, winning back-to-back championships in those years.

While Mulroy pulled the deficit back to five, Thompson’s goal put Donegal out of reach and out of sight.

McGuinness added: “We were clinical and did a good job to get over the line with 20 minutes to spare, basically, and give us a chance to get some players on the pitch as well that have been doing well in training.

“You want to be ruthless and you want to be clinical all the time and we were that in the second half.”

Brennan believes Donegal “showed their seriousness and ability as potential All-Ireland contenders”.

The former Dublin star – who will now take time to assess his own future as Louth manager after a year in which they won a first Leinster title since 1957 – said: “Donegal just steamed through on a cruiseliner and punished us for every error. They’re a superb team.”

DONEGAL: S Patton, F Roarty (0-0-2), B McCole, P Mogan (0-0-1); R McHugh, E Gallagher, C Moore; J McGee, M Langan (0-1-1); C McColgan (0-0-1), C Thompson (1-0-0), S O’Donnell (0-0-1); C O’Donnell (1-0-2), M Murphy (0-1-1, 1f), O Gallen (0-0-5).

Subs: H McFadden (0-0-1) for McGee (h-t), D Ó Baoill (0-0-2) for McHugh (49 mins), P McBrearty for Murphy (54), O McFadden-Ferry for Gallagher (57), N O’Donnell (0-0-1) for C.O’Donnell (57).

LOUTH: N McDonnell; D Nally, D Campbell, D McKenny; E Carolan, P Lynch (0-0-1), C Lennon (0-0-1); T Durnin, D McDonnell (0-0-1); C McKeever, C Downey (0-0-1), P Matthews (0-0-1); D Corcoran, S Mulroy (0-0-3, 1f), R Burns (0-0-4).

Subs: C Grimes for Carolan (h-t), S Callaghan for Durnin (49 mins), R Walsh for Matthews (54), K McArdle for Lennon (56), C Byrne for Burns (60).

Referee: B Cassidy (Derry).

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