Published Saturday, 16 June 2012
Donegal eased past Derry. (© Presseye)
The first half was a forgettable affair, in which both sides struggled to stamp their authority on the game.
After missing the mark with an early fisted effort, Colm McFadden made amends when he opened the scoring with a free in the sixth minute.
Mark Lynch equalised with a point from play soon after, but Donegal replied with further scores from McFadden, David Walsh and youngster Patrick McBrearty.
Derry were without a score for almost 20minutes before Paddy Bradley ended the doubt, but on the half hour mark the defending provincial champions extended their lead with a goal from Leo McLoone.
McFadden was the man who created the chance, powering down the left before passing inside to McLoone, who looked as though he was inside the square when he struck the ball past Paul Durcan.
Paddy Bradley responded for Derry a minute later, but Donegal had the final say in the half when Michael Murphy fired over in injury time to give his side a 1-6 to 0-4 lead at the break.
The game was over as a contest after just 4 minutes of the second half, when a second Donegal goal effectively put them out of sight.
After Frank McGlynn had scored an early point, Donegal successfully repelled a Derry attack and broke swiftly up the field, with the impressive McBrearty feeding McFadden to fire home.
After that it was almost a case of both teams running down the clock, although Donegal still outscored their opponents by six points to four in the closing stages.
McBrearty was unlucky not to cap a fine performance with a late goal, but he saw his effort come back off the post.
In the end it was a comprehensive victory for Jim McGuinness' side, who progress to meet Tyrone at Clones in the semi-finals.