JAMIE BRENNAN PROVIDED the cool head just when it was needed as Donegal grappled control back from Clare in the closing stages today.
The Bundoran forward popped over two points in the final 10 minutes to help the side managed by Declan Bonner to overcome their hosts in Ennis on a 0-16 to 0-13 scoreline on the first weekend of the Allianz League Division 2.
Donegal were in a reasonably good place at half-time, 0-10 to 0-8 in front, before Clare took the lead six minutes into the second half. And although the Banner County wouldn’t lie down, Brennan’s brace and injury time scores from Hugh McFadden and Jason McGee shaved a few miles off the journey to the north-west.
“At the start of the second-half they opened well,” Brennan said of Clare. “But we settled and had some good scores from Jason and Hughie to get us going again. We did hit some bad wides. I was a wee bit sloppy myself I felt with a few of them.”
“I tried to get on the ball as much as possible. You’re playing in a team and we’re all looking to make an impact. We had to be patient at times. I was talking to Michael Murphy during the week. He was saying that if it doesn’t happen in the first 15 minutes, bide your time. You have to be patient.”
Donegal have plenty to work on ahead of the visit of Meath to Ballybofey on Saturday, although Brennan admits it was never going to be easy at Cusask Park.
“Yeah, it wasn’t pretty,” he added. “But that was the aim coming down here – to get the two points. It was always going to be a big battle. Clare were coming in from the McGrath Cup in good form. Thankfully, we got the victory as it had looked dodgy for a while.
“I thought Brendan McCole was immense today. The boys at midfield too. Ryan McHugh really put in the hard yards. To be fair to Clare, we knew they would be ready. They were at home and they were looking to catch us on the hop. We knew what to expect. But we’re going back up the road with the win.”
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