Ciaran Thompson marks special milestone with a stellar performance in Croke Park

Regardless of people’s perception of the Allianz National League finals, there’s no doubt in years to come when Ciaran Thompson looks back on his sporting career, yesterday in Croke Park will be up there with some of the best days on offer. 

It was a special day for the Naomh Conaill man, who not only got his hands on the Division 2 league following Donegal’s 0-15 to 0-14 point win over Armagh but to add to that, he picked up the Man of the Match award as well as captaining his side to their first piece of silverware since 2019.  

To add greater importance to it, this was all on a day when the centre-forward kicked four points while also reaching the milestone of 100 appearances for his county at senior level. 

“It was a privileged moment for me and my family, for me to make my 100th appearance and get the chance to lift the cup in Croke Park and take over the captaincy from Patrick (McBrearty) for the day, it was a great feeling,” Thompson said. 

Despite an Armagh onslaught late in the second half, which nearly saw the match brought to extra-time, Donegal prevailed by one point with Aaron Doherty kicking the winner in what was a tight affair throughout. 

But there was never a doubt that the Naomh Conaill man was up for the challenge as he led from the front from start to finish and set down a marker early with two points in the opening quarter of the match. 

“I found my range and I was happy enough that the scores went over. The game itself was very evenly matched, we were happy enough to go in at half time a point ahead, and even when we went four points up, we were thinking we’d kick on from here, but it didn’t work out the way we thought,” said Thompson. 

“We missed a few chances, and we couldn’t get a hold of the kickouts, all that gave Armagh real momentum, and fair play to them, they fought back but we showed great character towards the end and thankfully we had the forwards who could kick the winning points for us.” 

Thompson and his side all agree that they have taken real learning from their league campaign and with Derry just around the corner in the championship, Donegal will hope to carry the momentum of Sunday’s win to Celtic Park when the Division 2 champions clash with the Division 1 champions and last year’s Ulster winners. 

“I think when you get tested with five minutes to go in an important match and you still come out with the win, especially when you’re missing a lot of players through injury, it’s a great feeling, we had a lot of young players that stood up today and that was important too, that is going to be a massive factor for us in a few weeks. 

“We know it’s going to be a massive step up now for the championship. The league was a really good exercise to see where we were at. We blooded a lot of new players who are now pushing for places, so it’s going to be a massive few weeks to get ready for Derry, but that’s a game we’re looking forward to and a game we’re hopeful that we can produce a performance.