Ulster Final Fermanagh V Donegal Sunday 24th June

[Jinxy]

Yeah, I think Donegal are being talked up an awful lot.
They are definitely on the right track, but may need another year to refine their style.
I think having to play Dublin first up is a good thing.
Do badly and you have time to rebuild morale, do well and you get a massive confidence boost for the remaining games.

[FermGael]

Very very disappointed with yesterday.
Apart from the first 10 minutes we were not in the game.
Donegal flooded their own 45 with bodies whenever we had the ball which made it impossible for our half backs/forward to get that 5 yards of space they need to get their shots off.
Our match ups were also wrong.
We were cleaned at midfield.  Donegal won all the breaking ball and made sure Eoin Donnelly never have a chance to win clean ball by having three men around him for the kickouts.
Up front Sean was isolated and had no support.
For the second Donegal goal Ryan McHugh should have been been pulled down and one of the two players who had the chance to do it should have taken a black card.
We didn't lay a hand on them. Didn't tackle with the same ferocity as we did against Monaghan and we just didn't preform.
People may say that Gallagher is a one trick pony but I disagree. He built that current Donegal team and last year , in the league anyhow, they were moving away from their defensive shell. Was very telling after the game to see a line of Donegal players going over to him at the final whistle.

From a Fermanagh point of view it was great to see so many supporters there. It was a great atmosphere and occasions like that will help the county further down the line.
We move on to the last 12 game in a fortnight and we need a performance out of the players.
They didn't preform yesterday but I still believe that there's another performance or two left on them this year if they can regroup.

I heard Horan talking about a tier 2 competition this morning.
Yesterday did more to get young people in Fermanagh playing Gaelic than winning a tier 2 competition ever will.
I seen all the hurling tiered competitions were live on YouTube on Saturday played infront of a handful of patrons in Croke Park.
If Horan would deal with the real elephant in the room then we could have an even championship.
Tiering will mean the strong get stronger and the weak are left behind like what has happened in hurling.

[FarneyMan]

Some nice aerial shots of the Venue yesterday...

https://twitter.com/GardaTraffic/status/1010885470614704128

[Dinny Breen]

Paddy McBrearty has torn his cruciate. Will miss the rest of the season for Donegal.

Have to say gutted for the chap.

[Jinxy]

Ah no.

[Wildweasel74]

And with that goes Donegal season

[yellowcard]

And with that goes Donegal season

Was probably Donegal's best player all season long, huge blow for their chances of making a semi final.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Paddy McBrearty has torn his cruciate. Will miss the rest of the season for Donegal.

Have to say gutted for the chap.

Terrible for the lad. Puts next year very much in jeopardy for him as well you'd imagine.

[J70]

Well that f**king sucks, both for him AND us. He was having an outstanding year and aside from Murphy we don't have anyone who can do a similar job. But Murphy is mostly playing out the field and doing very well also.

Our super 8 group just got a whole lot more attractive to the other sides.

Best of luck to Paddy though. He is still only 24, so plenty more time to add to an impressive career.

[Hound]

Ah no.

My exact words. He would have been a star of the Super 8.

[Erne Man]

Terrible shame for McBrearty.
Had the misfortune to be sitting at the Roslea end on Sunday watching him torture our defenders for the 1st half. Might only have scored 1 from play, but his movement is fantastic and his runs unselfish. He created a lot of space for McHugh, McGlynn & Gallagher coming from deep, by drawing defenders to him all the time.
I'd say his loss alone, places the best qualifier coming into that group 2nd favourites ahead of Donegal now.

[Maroon Manc]

Donegal have received a very positive reaction in the media to their performances this summer, don't think they play too differently from Galway who by comparison have been heavily criticised yet Galway have faced far stronger opposition. 

Talent wise Donegal have a bright future and look well placed to be the dominant team in Ulster for the next 5 years but think they'll do well to get out of their group this summer but we don't know how strong their group is and that obviously plays a huge part. Like Kevin Walsh I'd have reservations about Declan Bonner and whether he's up to the job.

Got to feel for Donegal, thats a huge blow to lose one of the best inside forwards in the game.

[J70]

The loss of Paddy Mac makes it very tough. As does the final game being in Ballybofey. Might be just pride at stake then, especially with a severely weakened frontline (it's not just his scores and frees - he occupies two opponents as well). But I hope Bonner sticks at pressing up the field and lets the chips fall where they may.

[inthrough]

And with that goes Donegal season

I wouldn't be just 100% sure about that just yet.

Yes it is a blow but Donegal have a number of fast exciting young fellas who will now have an opportunity to stake a claim. O'Baoill, who replaced Paddy on Sunday, Mulligan & Paddy's younger brother Stephen will not look shabby in the Donegal team.

Out of the 2-18 that Donegal scored against Fermanagh Paddy scored 0-1 & Donegal had 13 different scorers. Looking long term this year has already been a success & while losing Paddy is a blow I feel that Declan will use his absence over the next 3 weeks to adjust.

Donegal no longer depend on him for all their scores, like they did last year. & I am looking forward to seeing what they do without him. I wouldn't write them off getting a semi final place just yet.

[macdanger2]

Paddy McBrearty has torn his cruciate. Will miss the rest of the season for Donegal.

Have to say gutted for the chap.

Awful news for him and for Donegal