Gallen and O Baoill lead impressive Donegal past Dubs

Donegal got their Allianz National League campaign off to a winning start with a deserved victory over Dublin in MacCumhaill Park, Ballybofey.

They should have won much easier than the final margin suggests but poor shooting in the opening half and a Dublin resurgence after the break left the result in doubt until they pulled away in the final 10 minutes.

The new-look rules were welcomed by the Donegal public for the first time and they were very happy after the opening half.

Donegal dominated the opening 35 minutes but the five point margin at the break (0-11 to 0-6) didn't reflect their dominance. The main reason for that was the shooting of the home team who racked up eight wides.

Daire O Baoill was the standout player under the new rules hitting two points and two two pointers, accounting for more than half their total.

Shane O’Donnell and Michael Langan pushed Donegal ahead inside three minutes but Dublin responded well with Killian McGinnis and Colm Basquel (2) having the visitors ahead after eight minutes.

But then Donegal hit four points in-a-row followed by five wides. Daire O’Baoill was the only Donegal shooter finding the target as he pushed his side 0-8 to 0-4 ahead on 23 minutes.

Dublin brought in Tom Lahiff, Conor Tyrell and Niall Scully to try and stop the Donegal train and Lahiff almost made an instant impact, denied by a great save by Shaun Patton.

Conor O’Donnell and Daire O Baoill with his second two pointer had Donegal six clear before Ciaran Kilkenny popped over the last point of the opening half.

Donegal were awarded the only free for the three up infringement on the stroke of half-time but Oisin Gallen’s decision to go outside the 40m arc for a two point effort was off target.

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