1. Dublin’s sloppy second-half
UNUSUALLY FOR DUBLIN it was their second-half performance that let them down tonight. They trailed both Kildare and Tyrone by two points at half-time, before winning by seven and five points respectively.
Tonight the Dubs led by 0-11 to 0-5 at the interval, but Donegal had it back to within a point in the 53rd minute after a brilliant third quarter.
Dublin drifted out of the game for long spells and struggled to gain a foothold at midfield in the second-half, but to their credit they scored four points after the 65th minute to win by five. Still, it was unusual for them to allow Donegal back into the game after half-time.
2. The Paddy McBrearty show
With just a pointed free to his name in the opening 35 minutes, McBrearty cut a frustrated figure going into the half-time break. But the Donegal attacker was a different player after half-time and benefited from the strong breeze at his back.
He found his range early in the second-half and curled over six points, including two incredible strikes from the left corner that looked over from the moment they left his boot.
McBrearty has started this season in flying form and has 26 points (0-17f) to his name after three opening games against Kerry, Galway and Dublin.
3. Three defeats in three for Donegal
For the third straight week, Donegal put in a good display but left with no points. Declan Bonner’s men are rooted to the bottom of Division 1 but there are plenty of positives for him to work with.
They improved vastly after the break and were within a point of Dublin with 10 minutes left on the clock, before the three in-a-row All-Ireland champions sealed the win with four late scores.
A relatively inexperienced full-back line of Caolan Ward, Eoghan Bán Gallagher and Tony McCleneghan competed well for the 70 minutes, while it was good to see Mark McHugh complete 64 minutes at wing-back.
4. Michael Murphy makes his return from injury
Donegal talisman Murphy was a late addition to the Donegal list of substitutes prior to the game and he was brought into the fray on 55 minutes.
The Glenswilly man looked a little rusty and missed a few scoring chances but his return to the field is a massive boost to Donegal. Bonner has suggested Murphy will be employed as a forward and that’s where he played after his introduction tonight.
With Paddy McBrearty in such good form and Jamie Brennan looking lively beside him, Murphy’s return to fitness will bring another dimension to the Donegal attack.
5. Good Dublin displays
It was far from a complete display by Dublin, but they did have some good performers. Colm Basquel picked up man-of-the-match honours with a four points, but he was wasteful in some situations.
Niall Scully kicked four excellent scores off Ryan McHugh in the opening-half and his ability to ghost into scoring positions is very impressive.
They didn’t use Paul Mannion as much as they should have, but when the game was on the line he kicked a booming score late on – Dublin’s first in 21 minutes. And Ballymun Kickhams star Paddy Small finally made his debut for the side after struggling with injury in recent weeks, bagging a good score shortly after his introduction.
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