Fourteen-man Donegal held on for a narrow win in the Allianz Football League Division Two final against Laois at Croke Park.
Jim McGuinness’ side had to play the final half-hour a man short after Adrian Hanlon picked up a second yellow card, and had to withstand a furious fightback from a Laois side that trimmed an eight-point deficit back to one.
Goals from skipper Michael Murphy and Colm McFadden had given the Ulster side a comfortable advantage, and in the end, those strikes proved crucial.
Donegal crafted two glorious goal chances in the opening five minutes.
First Eoin Culliton saved superbly when McFadden’s fist met a right wing cross from Mark McHugh, with Murphy converting the resultant ’45.
The Midlanders had another let-off when Dermot Molloy smashed a shot off the butt of a post, moments after Niall Donoher had brought them level with a delightful sliced effort.
McHugh and John O’Loughlin swapped points, and in the 18th minute, the Ulster men finally did get the goal they had threatened for so long.
Murphy drove a penalty in off the underside of the crossbar after he had been fouled by Darren Strong, and when McFadden slotted over a couple of neat scores, the men from the north-west led by 1-05 to 0-03.
Ross Munnelly and Donoher hit the target for Laois, with MJ Tierney converting a free, and at the break, they trailed by 1-05 to 0-05.
Donegal made a sensational start to the second half, Murphy floating over a wonderful point, before sending McFadden through for a clinically taken goal, all inside the opening 45 seconds.
They were reduced to 14-men when wing forward Adrian Hanlon picked up a second yellow card in the 40th minute, and Laois staged a revival, with points from Paul Cahillane, Munnelly and Darren Strong.
Donegal’s short passing game frequently broke down, and a more direct Laois side narrowed the gap to three points through substitutes Cahillane and Donie Kingston with 20 minutes to play.
Kingston’s third had made it a one-point game when McFadden converted a free to end a 21-minute barren spell for the Ulster men.
But they were forced onto the back foot by resurgent Laois, who added further scores through the exciting Kingston and O’Loughin, but fell just short.
Donegal: P Durkan, A Thompson, K Cassidy (0-01), K Lacey, M Boyle, F McGlynn, M McElhinney, R Kavanagh (0-01), K Rafferty, A Hanlon, M McHugh (0-01), D Molloy, R Bradley (0-01), M Murphy (1-03, 1-00 pen, 0-01f, 0-01 ’45), C McFadden (1-3, 0-1f).
Subs: N Gallagher for Rafferty, D McLaughlin for Molloy, D Walsh (0-1) for McElhinney
Laois: E Culliton, D Booth, K Meaney, M Timmons, D Strong (0-01), S Julian, P O’Leary, P Clancy, B Quigley, C Begley (0-01), J O’Loughlin (0-02), N Donoher (0-02), R Munnelly (0-02), B Sheehan, MJ Tierney (0-01, f).
Subs: C Healy for Booth, P Cahillane (0-03) for Clancy, D Kingston (0-04, 1f) for Tierney, K Lillis for Sheehan
Referee: M Duffy (Sligo).
