Donegal Triumph Twenty Years on to take All Ireland

GAA All Ireland Final 2012
Sunday, 23 September, Croke Park, Dublin
Throw-in: 15:30 BST
Att: 82,269

Donegal 2-11 0-13 Mayo

Ulster Champions Donegal have won the All Ireland football championship, doing so for only the second time in the clubs history, beating Connacht champions, Mayo.

Going into the prestigious All Ireland, Donegal manager Jim McGuiness had the luxury of a full strength side to choose from, having several players recovered from minor injuries.

Wing-forward Ryan Bradley, who during the semi-final win over Cork was cause for concern having been forced to come off due to a shoulder injury, has retained his starting place.

Mayo, who were looking for their first All Ireland victory since 1951 made one change, with Colm Boyle replacing Chris Barrett at half-back.

Boyle was absent during the victorious semi final over All-Ireland champions Dublin with illness.

Defender Lee Keegan, who dislocated a finger during the Dublin win, is back in the side as part of the half-back line and, with Andy Moran still out, keeper David Clarke retains the Westerners' captaincy.


An early goal brace from Captain Michael Murphy and Top scorer Colm McFadden laid the foundations for triumph exactly twenty years after their first taste of the GAA showpiece.

Captain Murphy struck right footed inside the area to take first blood just two minutes in, whilst McFadden, who came into the contest as Donegal’s most prolific marksman this season notching up an impressive 3-28, got off the mark on the 11th minute rifling in a left footed drive inside the area, leaving keeper Clarke no chance.


That initial lead helped settle the gold and green of Donegal almost immediately, showing their quality in possession and superior handling, evidence of why they were favourites going into the annual All Ireland clash, in what was a frenetic spectacle from the off.

In contrast, Mayo were slow out of the blocks, on edge and nervy on the ball, only fuelling the dominance Donegal were showing.
Mayo’s failure to settle was encapsulated with a string of late tackles resulting in no less than four of their players on the receiving end of yellow cards dished out by resident referee Maurice Deegan.

An ominous feeling at this point could be observed round the ground, and by a majority pro Mayo crowd on hand at the Irish centre in Huddersfield.

Although favourites, Donegal didn’t have it all their own way, as Mayo grew into the first half and the game, diligently fighting back with a strong showing leaving the underdogs 2-4 to 0-7 down going into half time.

Such a strong finish to the half for Mayo, reminiscent of their overhaul of Dublin in the semi-finals almost three weeks prior, afforded the Connacht champions to pen back a somewhat reeling Donegal at this stage to just a three point lead.

Plenty for Donegal manager and former player Jim McGuiness to think about at the break. Same too for Mayo boss James Horan, who would have been asking his players to pick up where they left off at the end of the first half, building on their own momentum. Banishing any thoughts of a repeat performance and poor start to the half of which Donegal had shown they can capitalise on, punishing their opponents.



Second Half

Mayo won the initial throw in to commence the second half, and impetus seemed to be with them, in an attempt to break free from the shackles of their own All Ireland final hoodoo which has afforded Mayo defeat on an unprecedented fives occasions previously including the 89, 96, 97, 04, 06 finals.
Several stalwarts remain from the heavy defeat inflicted by Kerry in the 2006 final - goalkeeper Clarke, corner-back Keith Higgins and forward Alan Dillon.

Disciplinary issues for Mayo proved evident again however, with McFadden converting a free after a foul for shirt pulling on thirty seven minutes.

As with the first, the beginning of the second half saw both sides go hell for leather, Mayo going point for point as O’Connor dispatched the kick to restore the three point deficit.

Both teams continued to trade points on the scoreboard with Big Frank McGlynn trying his luck from long range with an audacious effort paying off for Donegal. Taking the teams tally to 2 06 as the second half remained in its infancy.

Jim Mcguiness was the first of the two managers to make changes with Ryan Bradley coming off for Walsh.


Thereafter, a passage of play ensued where Donegal seemingly allowed Mayo time and space on the ball in front of their box, failing to close down effectively.
Mayo spurned three golden chances to convert but fell wide of the mark, perhaps a lack of composure at the critical moment was beginning to prove telling and costly for the side searching for the right to get their hands on the Sam Maguire trophy that has eluded them since 1951.

However another high tackle flew in by Mayo, with the free easily converted by Murphy, at this point it was arguably becoming a mountain to climb for Mayo as the clock continued to tick on, those two early goals giving Donegal the cushion they required to make history.

To Mayo’s credit despite a few heads dropping after the second goal went in early doors, they left it all on the field, giving everything and no supporters would of lambasted their players for lack of commitment, effort and desire.

Donegal, known for their claustrophobic, controlling style and brick wall defence didn’t waiver, building from the back line to supply McFadden who asked questions of the Mayo defence all afternoon.

Despite Donegal’s grip on proceedings, the last ten minutes were anything but a quiet affair of which the game would peter out without incident.

Within a two minute period Mayo took their chances, duly converting successive free’s, the match going from a 6 point game to that of 4.

Added time of three minutes would be exercised, Mayo trying to push forward to record an incredible comeback, nevertheless Donegal and Jim McGuiness would not be denied.

Twenty years after Donegal’s first and only triumph in the All Ireland, that feat would be repeated with a former player in Jim McGuiness at the helm, who was a member of the legendary team of 92’, masterminding history.

History that will live long in the memory to those of Donegal, a sea of gold and green bear witness to their team reaching the pinnacle of Gaelic football, captain and man of the match Michael Murphy raised the Sam Maguire trophy aloft to jubilant support and a heartfelt speech, thanking the fans and everyone involved in Donegal’s triumph on the grandest stage.

Starting Line Ups:

Donegal: P Durcan; P McGrath, N McGee, F McGlynn; A Thompson, K Lacey, E McGee; N Gallagher, R Kavanagh; R Bradley, L McLoone, M MCHugh; P McBrearty, M Murphy, C McFadden.

Donegal scorers: Murphy 1-4, McFadden 1-4, Bradley 0-1, McGlynn 0-1, Gallagher 0-1

Mayo: D Clarke; K Keane, G Cafferkey, K Higgins; L Keegan, D Vaughan, C Boyle; B Moran, A O'Shea; K McLoughlin, J Doherty, A Dillon; E Varley, C O'Connor, M Conroy.

Mayo scorers: McLoughlin 0-2, O'Connor 0-5, Conroy 0-1, Varley 0-2, Feeney 0-1, Keegan 0-1, Gibbons 0-1

Belgian GP: Jenson In Control at Spa

Jenson Button drove a comprehensively controlled race from the off to build upon a dominant showing in qualifying, and thus, claim his 14th formula one victory in his 50th race for McLaren.

The Belgian Grand Prix’s dynamics changed almost immediately in chaotic fashion, with Maldonado appearing to jump the lights fractionally as race director Charlie Whiting looked on shaking his head in disbelief.
What followed at the first corner was an incident resulting in drivers Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez and Romain Grojean all crashing out, with the latter appearing to be the culprit and instigator.

Lewis Hamilton was furious and rightly so, in a week where things couldn’t look bleaker, the sad passing of his Aunt, followed by the forced retirement at the hands of Grojean who, consciously drifted into Hamilton’s driving line causing the dangerous altercation and flying debris, at one point Grosjeans car was jolting precariously a top of Alonso’s Ferrari.

Alonso summed up his obvious dejection on crashing out: 'we pay for mistakes of other drivers, disappointing for myself and the team'

Grosjean, when interviewed soon after the incident conceded to being 'unsure' whether he moved across too aggressively from the start and into Lewis‘ racing line, affording this to having not seen the replay yet. Claiming the main thing is all drivers involved are ok.

Subsequently the Lotus driver has incurred the justified wrath of the F.I.A. who have sanctioned the Frenchman with a one race ban in addition to a 50,000Euro fine.

Speaking of sanctions, Pastor Maldonado, who did not escape the hoopla of the first corner unscathed, a damaged front wing forced an early exit for the Williams driver.
He would furthermore be held accountable for his part in the first corner pile up and the jump start that had been dually noted by officials, his reprimand, two five-place grid penalties to be imposed at Monza next weekend.

Of the incident and Grojeans gross misconduct, within the stewards report it was claimed;

"Neither the team nor the driver made any submission in mitigation of penalty"

“It eliminated leading championship contenders from the race... an extremely serious mistake and an error of judgement"

"This (was) an extremely serious breach of the regulations which had the potential to cause injury to others"

The presence of the safety car was immediately employed, with stewards scrambling to clear the debris.
Brit Button retained the lead through the ensuing mayhem of the first corner dramatics at spa, nevertheless a reshuffle in the pecking order would inevitably follow, with Hulkenberg moving into second from Kimi Raikkonen third, and Michael Schumacher placed in fourth.

Following the timely exit of the safety car 5 laps in, we were underway again, Jenson quickly opening up a 12.9second gap lead over his competitors by the 18th lap.

Prior to Jenson pulling away, Paul Di Resta in the Force India was first to pit, changing his Option tyres, that had been mandatory to the top ten from the beginning for that of the harder construct.
Meanwhile veteran Michael Schumacher rolled back the years with an exceptional passing move to get beyond Raikkonen to claim third spot.

Under the current conditions, that were fine and bright, albeit mild in temperature, the harder compound tyre switch initiated by Di Resta was being heeded by the rest of the field with both Mark Webber and Kimi Raikonen pitting to gain more tyre efficiency.

The pitting of Raikonnen allowed the seven times world champion Schumacher to slot into 2nd with ease, the German seemingly on a one stop strategy.
Michael wasn’t the only German moving through the pack as reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel who, initially held 11th place on the grid passed Bruno Senna, the nephew of late great Ayrton Senna to take 6th, the Germans were on the charge.

Incident was not just on the track but off it, in the pits to be precise, as one of the Caterham’s clipped the back of a HRT, luckily minimal damage could be observed.

By the time Button was 12.9seconds clear in dominant fashion, the two Germans were second and third respectively, Vettel having made up an impressive recoup of eight places to the third and final podium place.

Soon after however, a close call unfolded between Germans Michael and Sebastian near the entrance to the pit lane.
Vettel, eager to overtake was caught unawares to Schumacher impending pit stop forcing the latter to cut across the prior in order to pit. A chink in the German efficiency armour?
Reason withstanding, the pit entry altercation between the Bavarian brothers was to be investigated after race.

By roughly the half point, Button had opened up a decisive gap, allowing for the Briton to pit and still come out in pole position, a fruitful side effect of an arguably perfect race so far.
No such luck for reigning world champion Vettel, as he pitted and emerged in sixth, with 23 laps of the regulation 44 completed, their was still time to make up the positional loss with others around him having to pit and his Red Bull team aiming for a one stop race, with necessary fuel at his disposal due thanks in part to the safety cars appearance.
A reshape again in podium places, with the stoic Button leading from Raikonnen and Hulkenberg.

In such a controlling position, Jenson received encouraging word from his McLaren pit crew that ‘Plan A is good’, presumably with two thirds of the race all but surpassed, the principled one stop strategy was on course for completion.

It was a familiar confrontation behind the assured Vodafone McLaren, with Vettel second and Schumacher third vying for superiority and points, with extra onus on Sebastian who could close the gap on Fernando Alonso in the Driver’s Championship following the Spaniards early spa retirement.

Drama again ensued in the pit lane, this time the Red Bull of Mark Webber and the red Ferrari of Felipe Massa, to be investigated after the race due to ‘Unsafe release incident in pits’ of Webber, who in fairness managed to avoid contact with the incoming Brazilians Ferrari on exiting the pits.
The HRT was not so lucky, spinning off at spa’s turn 12, Indian Karthikeyan falling victim to the gravel.

Elsewhere the battle for third was intensifying, with five cars bunching up hoping to lay claim to the final podium place.
Schumacher valiantly fended the chasing pack off as best he could, both Hulkenberg and Webber smelling blood with only 10 laps left to go, Raikonnen asserted himself drawing upon his previous duels with Michael to take third place.

Immediately after a ferocious passage of formula one, Hulkenberg and Schumacher exchanged 4th and 5th positions. Losing ground, Schumacher succumbed to a two stop finish and pitted accordingly.
Places one to three with eight laps remaining were Button out in front ahead of Vettel and Raikonnen.

So it proved to be, with the conclusion of the Belgian Grand Prix, Vettel moves up the championship table to second, 24 points behind Alonso.

"It was a crazy race from where I started," Vettel said. "The start was not so good and after the first corner when a lot of cars went off it was pretty crazy, fortunately we came back with a fantastic strategy. 
"It was the right call, and the car was quite good in the race and we were able to pick up some places.

"I had a lot of fun racing a lot of people, racing Michael (Schumacher). I'm looking forward already to coming back here next year, this circuit is unbelievable." 


The German's team-mate, Australian Mark Webber consolidates third, 12 points behind Vettel. Finnish Kimi Raikkonen is one point behind the Australian, 14 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

On his return to Spa, Raikkonen said "It's nice to be back here,"


"There are always a lot of fans and good racing - we have seen very nice racing here today. It's not the easiest day for me and the team - the car was not exactly as we liked.
"But we had a lot of fighting and we managed to get a lot of points for me and the team." 

Button's comprehensive victory at Spa leaves the Briton sixth, but at 63 points behind Spaniard Alonso with 200 available in the remaining eight races, his title hopes are still a long shot, never say never?

On this victory, Jenson said "This circuit is so special to most drivers," Button said. "The way that it flows, the history here. So to get a victory here, lights to flag, is very special for me."