You couldn’t say that the players were indifferent as champions Donegal and Tyrone fought for every ball in this afternoon’s Ulster SFC clash.
Both sides finished with fourteen men after Neil Gallagher was sent off for a second yellow with eight minutes remaining before Sean Cavanagh suffered a similar fate just moments later.
Donegal held tough through a late Tyrone surge and it was Michael Murphy’s treble of points in the final ten minutes that decided the game that was as ill-tempered as it was tightly contested.
Tyrone goalkeeper Michael O’Neill deserves the vast majority of credit as it was his reliability that kept the Red Hands within reach of Donegal.
The first half saw the majority of the action as Darren McCurry found the net on the ten minute mark but a Martin McElhinney goal ensured that the hosts went into the break with a 1-08 to 1-06 lead but not before the players clashed on their way off the pitch.
The second half was tighter but it was Donegal who soldiered through the 35 to get the 1-13 to 1-10 win.
Leitrim 0-08 Galway 1-13
This went the way as many expected as Leitrim’s winless Championship run against Galways stretched to 21 years.
Leitrim never looked like turning over the Tribesmen after Damien Comer ensured his side would go in at half-time with a four point lead.
There was no comeback in the legs of the hosts and Galway eased into a Connacht semi-final meeting with Mayo without ever needing to reach fifth gear.
Louth 0-16 Westmeath 3-14
A rampant Westmeath coasted into the Leinster SFC quarter-final after a stellar second half put them out of sight.
The first half was a tight affair as the visitors finished the opening 35 enjoying a lead of just 0-07 to 0-06 in far from ideal conditions.
But playing with the breeze in the second half, the Lake County took an insurmountable lead thanks to two goals from the powerful John Heslin.
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