DONEGAL ....................................1-13

FERMANAGH .............................. 2-9

BY DAMIAN CAMPBELL

Another defeat but this time it was one that didn't attract any hint of recrimination.

In fact, it was an ill-deserved result for a Fermanagh team, who had produced a greatly improved showing in virtually every aspect of their game and were to be denied at least a draw, with Donegal claiming the victory with a pointed free three minutes into added-on time.

A team who had gone six matches on the trot without reward deserved to at least finish the campaign with a draw, given the spirited and committed performance thrown up in this final assignment.

Yet a win or a draw in one sense was neither here nor there. Fermanagh were already consigned to relegation and a relegation that will be extremely punitive. Dropping down two divisions for next season.

But what was more important was the performance from the players and here there could be no complaint. The team came out of this Ballybofey contest, perhaps not smelling of roses, but at least they could stride off the park with heads held high and respect restored.

They had put the nightmares of the previous two debacles behind them, had delivered a feisty display both collectively and individually and had posed a major problem for a team who were heading into the National League semi-finals with just one draw to blemish their record.

Admittedly Donegal were to field a lineout that was somewhat short of their normal set-up but as the match progressed they were forced into a raft of changes that saw first choice personnel drafted in and in the end they were fortunate enough to scramble the win.

Donegal may have come into the game with an inevitably casual approach. They were on the crest of a wave and were facing a woebegone opposition that had seen its self-esteem and morale sink to unplumbed depths.

The laws of sport dictate that in such circumstances the overly confident are soon pulled off their high horse. And this duly happened with Fermanagh punishing an all too indolent home side with a two-goal, first-half burst.

Those goals at one stage hoisted Fermanagh into a seven point lead and the prospect of a long-sought victory was shaping up. But Donegal, the introduction of their more experienced personnel making the anticipated difference, battled their way back resolutely.

And as the game swung into the final minutes, there could be no disputing the drive and energy of the home side who were determined not to let their good record be spoiled by allowing Fermanagh an unexpected success.

Donegal wanted the win badly and duly got it. But on this particular day, Fermanagh will have been the side to have extracted more from the game.

The Erne panel will be able to head into the next five weeks of championship preparation with this encouraging 70 minutes to provide impetus and instil a sense that a corner has at last been turned.

And the similarity with the way that things went in the spring of 2004 will also be an omen to inspire their effort over the coming weeks. The league has been hugely disappointing but there was more than enough from this Ballybofey outing to indicate that the summer still holds the prospect of producing a decent campaign in some shape or form.

No questioning the argument that Fermanagh came out of Ballybofey a considerably chirpier panel than they travelled into it. The way they performed will have made the next five weeks or so a great deal more bearable and there should be a resharpened anticipation for late May and that date with a Tyrone team who have lost a lot of glamour and glitz of the early season.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 9