Donegal manager Paddy Carr expressed pride in his team amid the circumstances in which they dispelled question marks on the way to edging out All-Ireland champions Kerry in his first Allianz Football League match in charge.In spite of numerous changes, some due to injury, the Ulster county emerged winners in the Division 1 battle at Ballybofey by a single point, with the crucial score converted by newly installed captain Patrick McBrearty.The circumstances of the win against the Kingdom was the most satisfying aspect for Carr as he told RTÉ's Sunday Sport shortly after full-time."That's a very changed side from the last side that took the field in the championship against Armagh," he said."We have a lot of well recognised footballers who weren't out there today and we had talked a fair bit about the spirit of Donegal.
There's an incredibly proud group of lads there and they fought to the end."Because the conditions were very difficult and it mightn't be the prettiest football but my goodness, it was a great league battle and there are plenty of good footballers in Kerry and fair play to them."Great recognition for what they did last year, so it is a wee bit special and particularly the fact the newcomers and new lads coming into the team played their hearts out."And of course we made Patrick McBrearty captain there and he played that role when he just slung that last ball over so it's a really good feeling and I'm very proud of these lads."Carr acknowledged that there had plenty of scrutiny about Donegal's hopes going into this year, amid upheaval both at managerial level but also the retirement of long-standing talisman Michael Murphy."There have been a lot of questions about the heart and soul of Donegal football and I