| Golden show from McIvor’s young
guns  By
David Thorpe
A depleted Donegal maintained their unbeaten run with a draw against a battling
Limerick side on Saturday night to cement their standing at the top of
the League.
With their place in the knockout stages assured Donegal boss Brian McIvor
opted to rest several of the players who proved so deadly in the Ulster
side’s victory over Kerry last week with Colm McFadden, Ciaran Bonner
and Brian Roper missing out. With one eye on the Championship later in
the year McIvor opted for youth and inexperience to replace the rested
players.
Limerick are a battle-hardened and well-organised team short of one
or two creative players but have been impressive already in 2007 almost
surprising both Kerry and Tyrone in earlier rounds.
On Saturday night at the Gaelic grounds they took the uncomplicated option
of clipping over what points came their way while Donegal freewheeled
their way to four goals in an entertaining match which neither side deserved
to lose.
The Treatymen led by 1-7 to 2-2 at the interval thanks to fine points
from Michael Reidy and a Tom Cahill goal. The Donegal players were still
getting used to each other’s style of play in this period but managed
to snaffle goals through Leon Thompson and Michael Doherty.
The second-half was a different story. Donegal controlled most of the
possession and points from Doherty and Brendan Devenney had McIvor’s
men level within minutes of the restart.
Michael Reidy is far and away the best footballer in Limerick and his
points kept the Munster men in touch even as goals from Christy Toye and
Adrian Sweeney sent Donegal towards what looked like a sixth consecutive
victory.
Limerick’s Stephen Lavin had the final say however picking up a
loose ball on the edge of the square before firing it into the net to
secure a deserved draw and set-up an intriguing relegation battle with
Cork next week.
With their place booked in the knockout stages of the League a week early
Donegal manager McIvor will continue to play around with his squad experimenting
with his line-up and building towards what could be a very successful
summer.
Speaking after the match McIvor praised his side’s effort and said:
“We took nothing for granted today, Limerick are a good side they
made us work hard for what we got. Football is a 30-man game these days
and we have plenty of good players and I think we showed that today.” |
