'I was delighted with my decision to come back and play for Donegal' - Aaron Doherty

It didn’t quite have the same raw emotion to when Jim McGuinness was last winning matches in Croke Park a decade ago, but there was no shortage of drama. 

When McGuinness’s team last won at GAA Headquarters when he was at the helm back in 2014, Aaron Doherty was only 14 years old, but today in Dublin he was exactly the man Donegal needed in the dying seconds of the game, with his zestful swing off the right landing the green and gold their first piece of silverware since 2019. 

McGuinness’s return to the Donegal panel needed no dramatic introduction. The headlines wrote themself, so much so that Doherty’s return after a year absent might have slipped under the radar. 

His winning score to land Donegal their Division 2 crown with a 0-15 to 0-14 point win over Armagh showed that 2024 is the year two prodigal sons returned to the Donegal dressing room. 

“It’s a great feeling to win something with Donegal, we came here today knowing it was going to be a tough battle against Armagh, but we got ourselves into a good position early on, which was good because in fairness to Armagh, they clawed it back late on and we were delighted to get over the line in the end,” the Naomh Columba man said after the match. 

“We just had to deal with their purple patch which wasn’t easy, especially when they took the lead, they had real momentum behind them, so we really needed to show good character which I think we did, so we’ll go up the road happy tonight.” 

Doherty was on the receiving end of the final two plays, both of which he fired towards the goals to add his name to the scoresheet, the first of which ended up being the winning score, while the second was put wide. 

However, after 70 minutes of hard work, running around Croke Park, one could be forgiven for an error here and there, with Doherty acknowledging the high level of football from both sides.  

“My legs were like jelly towards the end, I think everyone saw that when my final shot went right of the post, I would usually back myself in that position, it looked like an easy score to be fair, but thankfully I got a point a few seconds before that which was enough to win the game,” he said. 

“It's high intensity being out there, it’s not easy, but we have the work done, we put in a serious amount of work over the winter months, and I think that showed, not just today but throughout the league, we’ve had a good run over the last few months and long may that continue.” 

And while such a performance and winning note will land Doherty into a serious discussion regarding his place on the starting XV come the middle of April in Celtic Park, for now, the 24-year-old is just happy to be back representing Donegal and playing the game he loves. 

“I was delighted to be asked back this year, I think when you look at the boys playing, you’re sitting there watching them knowing you can help out. You want to be out there with them, so I was delighted to come back into the panel. 

There’s even a better buzz when you have Jim back managing us, we’ve had a good few months, it’s been all positive, we just need to knuckle down now for the championship in a few weeks, it’s been a great league campaign and thankfully we finished it off with a trophy.”