Ulster SFC semi-finals: Donegal out to exorcise ghosts of 2020 in Cavan reunion

It’s curious how watershed results of a bygone era linger and shape current narratives. In the build-up to Tyrone-Derry, there was plenty of chat about 2006, the last time Derry sauntered into Omagh and beat the All-Ireland champions on their own patch.

And if the Red Hands were irked by memories of Enda Muldoon and co claiming a famous scalp suddenly resurfacing, Donegal will almost certainly bristle at talk of 2020.

Back then, just a month into inter-county football’s return from its pandemic-enforced hiatus, Declan Bonner’s men were on course for a third successive Ulster title. They had beaten Tyrone and Armagh to reach the decider and were heavily expected to bulldoze through Cavan in their quest to hold the Sam Maguire Cup for the first time since 2012.

What transpired, of course, was an upset of epic proportions, Cavan’s ravenous intensity unhinging their much-fancied opponents as the Breffnimen sealed their first Ulster success since 1997.

But while the ghosts of that agonising November evening inside the Athletic Grounds may still haunt Donegal, Bonner will feel as though his side are more than adequately equipped to avoid further distress at the hands of Mickey Graham’s men.

Having escaped the Division One relegation trapdoor, Donegal produced the dominant, controlled display of a hardened championship force to send Armagh packing.

Among the highlights for the Tir Conaill men were full-back Brendan McCole holding Orchard talisman Rian O’Neill scoreless, Jason McGee’s mastery of the midfield battle and Ryan McHugh’s indefatigable endeavours from wing-back.

But Bonner will have been delighted, too, with Michael Murphy notching six points up against an uber-physical Armagh full-back in Aidan Forker and Paddy McBrearty ending the game with 1-2 despite spending large parts of it on the periphery.