'Our win against Armagh showed how important having a strong panel is' - McGonagle

Donegal player Caolan McGonagle believed the depth and impact of the county panel was a key element that saw his side get over the line against Armagh in the Division 2 final in Croke Park. 

With hardly anything separating the teams, it was corner-forward Aaron Doherty who was the hero of the afternoon as he kicked the winning score to see the green and gold side overcome Kieran McGeeney’s side on a scoreline of 0-15 to 0-14 points. 

And while Donegal will take huge momentum from this final into their championship game against Division 1 champions Derry in three weeks, McGonagle knows that there is still a lot to work on, especially trying to build on a lead and preventing the opposition from coming back into the game, which is what happened in the second half yesterday. 

“We had a four-point lead and you’re always hoping that you can build on that, but Armagh definitely took control in the second half, there were a few things that didn’t go our way and they had huge momentum in the final 10 minutes, but thankfully we stuck it out to the end and have a national title under our belts,” said the Buncrana man. 

“It was a big change in how the game was played when you compare it to last week when we played Meath on a very soft pitch in the rain. Croke Park had a hard surface, there was nothing in the game and it was really end-to-end stuff, neither team wanted to give an inch and we were happy to come out the right side of it. 

“We spoke at half-time about building on our one-point lead, it’s about trying to maintain your control on the game and see the match out. Armagh brought on a few good players who started winning ball and started making things happen for them, but thankfully we held them out.” 

McGonagle had particular praise for the younger members of the squad who were forced to step up to the mark with so many first-team regulars absent from the team through injury. 

“We had plenty of legs, especially the young players that dug us out,” said the centre-half back.  

“We had players like Ciaran Moore there who was brilliant at full-back, Aaron Doherty kicked the winning score and was unreal as well, so we had lads all over the field who contributed massively to the win.  

“I think it showed today how important a squad is. Games are coming thick and fast, there are different men out through injury, like we were missing Patrick McBrearty, Ryan McHugh, Brendan McCole, Eoghan Bán Gallagher, so it’s important that you have good players in your panel that can come in and do a job, and there’s no better test than doing it in Croke Park in a final.”