Odhran Lynch: A hard day at the office began with a brilliant save from McGonagle. Caught off his line by O Baoill twice. Sent wrong way by Gallen for the penalty and stranded again when pushed into midfield late on and Brennan hammered Donegal’s fourth goal. 5
Conor McCluskey: Picked up Niall O’Donnell and kept him quiet for spells but O’Donnell scored one and set up two more including O Baoill’s second goal. 6
Chrissy McKaigue: Waves of green and gold came at him throughout the game. Marking Gallen but got forward to score a point. Took down Shane O’Donnell (just outside square) to concede the penalty that decided the issue. 6
Diarmuid Baker: Kept Aaron Doherty scoreless although the Donegal corner-forward did get his hands on a fair bit of ball. 6.5
Conor Doherty: Bravely in to win an early break in midfield but Derry didn’t grab enough of them. Excellent first half point, he dropped another effort short. 6
Eoin McEvoy: Picked up Ciaran Thompson and he had his hands full with the physical Naomh Conaill clubman who never allowed him to get forward. 5
Padraig McGrogan: Early pass picked out Paul Cassidy who scored a mark. Called ashore late in the first half. 5
Conor Glass: A poor game by his high standards. Couldn’t turn the tide in the middle of the field against Jason McGee and had one shot which dropped short and led to penalty. 5
Brendan Rogers: A wholehearted performer who was overrun in midfield. Worked up and down the field from square to square and scored points in both halves. 7
Ethan Doherty: Three superb points in the first half when he was Derry’s best player. Ciaran Moore moved onto him at start of second and kept him quieter but Doherty did manage a fourth. 7
Ciaran McFaul: Didn’t look himself. Ryan McHugh surged past him to score Donegal’s first from play. Moved onto O Baoill late in the first half. One shot wide, another short. 5
Paul Cassidy: Scored two excellent first half points but was running towards his own posts too often for Derry’s liking. Didn’t make an impact in the second half. 5.5
Niall Loughlin: Worked hard running the channels until he was withdrawn injured after 28 minutes. 5
Shane McGuigan: He won’t want to see Brendan McCole for a while. Shot just wide in the first half but converted a late free. Added three more in the second half including two from play but the game was gone by then. 5.5
Lachlan Murray: Tracked by Ciaran Moore, he scored one from three. Hit the post with a fisted effort and kicked one wide. When he did score he was immediately taken off. 5
Subs: Niall Toner: Replaced Loughlin near half-time and landed a good score. Half-chance for goal late on. 6
Gareth McKinless: Lost O Baoill as he ran onto Patton’s kickout for second goal. Off-the-ball foul gave McBrearty simple free. Scored a point. 5
Emmet Bradley: Brought in for Murray but couldn’t turn the tide in midfield. 5
Donncha Gilmore: On for last 10 and fell into Derry habit of dropping shots short. 5
Eunan Mulholland: Not on long enough to be rated.
