Dubs dethroned as McHugh’s goals do business for Donegal

DONEGAL 3-14 DUBLIN 0-17

Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown in Gaelic football as Dublin's bid to retain the Sam Maguire ground to a halt in Sunday's All-Ireland SFC semi-final at Croke Park.

Dublin held a five-point advantage at two stages of the opening half but the concession of a 33rd minute goal when Ryan McHugh was in the right place at the right time from a Donegal perspective rocked the Dubs who trailed 1-8 to 0-9 at the break.

The Dubs had played some superb football in the 30 minutes with some outstanding long-range scoretaking from Paul Flynn, Diarmuid Connolly and Philly McMahon.

Dublin lead 0-7 to 0-2 after 17 minutes and were very much in the driving seat and dictating the tempo of the game.

Ultimately Dublin were left to rue a couple of missed goal-scoring opportunities in the first half with Bernard Brogan and Connolly both failing to convert.

By 26 minutes Dublin led 0-9 to 0-4 following an exceptional Connolly point but from then to the break Donegal held the upperhand with sub Christy Toye central to Donegal's play.

McHugh, Odhrán Mac Niallais and Michael Murphy pointed before a high delivery into the Dublin square eventually resulted in McHugh blasting to the net.

Four minutes into the second half Donegal exploited the space in front of the Dublin full-back line when he ghosted inside the Dublin cover to apply the finishing touch to the net following good counter-attack play by Eamonn McGee and Anthony Thompson.

Points from Bernard and Alan Brogan cut the deficit but Dublin's uphill task was made almost impossible when Colm McFadden scored his side's third goal with 24 minutes remaining to give Donegal a 3-10 to 0-12 cushion.

Two Bernard Brogan frees and another gem from Connolly saw Dublin were not going to surrender but Donegal's defence ensured they were going to deprive the Dubs of a goal as the Ulster men booked their berth in the final against Kerry.

SCORERS - Donegal: R McHugh 2-2, C McFadden 1-3 (0-2f), M Murphy 0-3 (2f), P McBrearty 0-2, K Lacey, R Kavanagh, O Mac Niallais, F McGlynn 0-1 each. Dublin: D Connolly 0-5 (0-1f), P Flynn 0-4, B Brogan 0-3 (1f), A Brogan, P Andrews 0-2 each, P McMahon 0-1.

DONEGAL: P Durcan; N McGee, E McGee, P McGrath; A Thompson, K Lacey, F McGlynn; O Mac Niallais, R Kavanagh; David Walsh, L McLoone, R McHugh; C McFadden, M Murphy, N Gallagher.Subs: C Toye for Walsh (27), P McBrearty for McLoone (43), Declan Walsh for N McGee (black card, 58), M McElhinney for Kavanagh (60), D O’Connor for McFadden (64), M O’Reilly for Mac Niallais (70).

DUBLIN: S Cluxton; P McMahon, R O’Carroll, M Fitzsimons; J McCaffrey, J Cooper, J McCarthy; MD Macauley, C O’Sullivan; P Flynn, A Brogan, D Connolly; C Costello, E O’Gara, B Brogan.Subs: N Devereux for McCaffrey (ht), K McManamon for Costello (41), D Rock for O’Gara (48), P Andrews for A Brogan (53), D Daly for Cooper (62), P Mannion for O’Sullivan (68).

ATTENDANCE: 81,500.

REF: J McQuillan (Cavan).