Antrim scored a shock first Ulster SFC win over Donegal since 1970 with a narrow one point success at Ballybofey.
A Tomas McCann goal in the 57th minute gave the Saffrons the belief that they could end the drought, and they celebrated with their supporters as they booked a semi-final date with Cavan.
A misfiring Donegal side hit 18 wides, and just couldn’t shake off Antrim’s gutsy challenge, which gave them their first provincial championship win since 2002.
Antrim got to the pace of the game quickly, opening up an early lead through Aodhan Gallagher and Paddy Cunningham.
But they were almost caught on the counter-attack when a swift move involving Rory Kavanagh and Michael Hegarty ended with Antrim goalkeeper Sean McGreevy stretching to keep out Conal Dunne’s shot with his foot.
But the veteran netminder was injured in the process, and was forced off after just eight minutes, with Peter Graham coming into the game.
Donegal drew level by the 13th minute through Rory Kavanagh and Michael Murphy, from a free, but their shooting was badly astray throughout the first half, and by the interval, they had racked up no less than 10 wides.
Michael McCann and Murphy swapped frees, before Cunningham opened out a two-point lead for the Saffrons.
However, Donegal finally found their range late on, hitting the final three points of the half, two of them from teenager Murphy.
The home side led by 0-06 to 0-05 at the break, and went further ahead through Ciaran Bonner and Murphy on the resumption.
But Antrim were still not prepared to give way, and another flourish saw them reclaim the lead, Tomas McCann easing them back in front in the 49th minute.
And in the 57th minute, the unthinkable started to become possible, when Liam Bradley’s men crafted the only goal of the game.
Tony Scullion’s quickly taken sideline ball found McCann, and he netted on the rebound after Paul Durcan kept out his initial effort.
Donegal continued to create chances, and while they had a less than 50% success rate, they did claw back to within a point through Christy Toye.
And it was substitute defender Kevin O’Boyle who sealed it for Antrim with a superb long-range effort a minute from the end.
Donegal: P Durcan, E McGee, N McGee, K Lacey, B Dunnion, K Cassidy, M McGuire, N Gallagher, B Boyle, C Bonner (0-01), M Hegarty, R Kavanagh (0-03), C McFadden (0-02, 2f), M Murphy (0-05, 3f, 1 ‘45’), C Dunne.
Substitutes: C Toye (0-01) for Dunnion (h-t), B Roper for Hegarty (50), D Walsh for Dunne (52), F McGlynn for Boyle (59).
Antrim: S McGreevy,C Brady, A McLean, D McCann, T Scullion, J Crozier, J Loughrey, M McCann (0-01, f), A Gallagher (0-01),T O'Neill, K Brady (0-01), N McKeever, P Cunningham (0-04, 3f), S Burke, T McCann (1-02, 0-01 ‘45’).
Substitutes: K O’Boyle (0-01) for D McCann (49), K Niblock for Burke (50) C Close for Brady (54), B Hasson for McKeever (62).
Referee: P Hughes (Armagh).
