Allianz FL D1: Donegal pick up the points

Allianz National Football League Division One

Donegal 1-20 Dublin 0-20

By Paul Keane at Croke Park

Back at Croke Park and, crucially, back to winning ways there.

Six months after falling short in the All-Ireland final against Kerry, Jim McGuinness' crew were good value for this significant Division 1 win.

Inspired by Michael Langan, the freshly crowned McKenna Cup champions led virtually from pillar to post to launch their campaign with a win having been promoted from Division 2 last year.

Langan was a late addition to the lineup but showed his class with six points, all of which came in the second-half.

Goalkeeper Gavin Mulreany drilled two two-pointers while Shea Malone crowned his National League debut with a goal.

There were cameos too from Conor O'Donnell and Caolan McGonagle, the latter making his 100th appearance in green and gold.

Boss Jim McGuinness went with seven of his lineup from last July's All-Ireland decider - so Donegal can still get significantly stronger.

Michael Murphy, Ciaran Thompson, Shaun Patton, Oisin Gallen and the retired Paddy McBrearty were all notable by their absence.

Dublin too were understrength, without star names like Ciaran Kilkenny, Colm Basquel, Theo Clancy and Cormac Costello.

New manager Ger Brennan handed out four full League debuts while Páidí White also got his first taste of League football as a substitute.

The Sky Blues never really looked like winning though did cut the cap to just three points at full-time with a strong second-half performance.

Substitutes contributed eight points between them with Luke Breathnach registering five of them. Conor Tyrrell and Sean Bugler proved influential when they came on too but it still ended in defeat.

Dublin will aim to pick up a first win when they travel to Mayo next weekend while Donegal will host Kerry in Ballyshannon in Round 2.

Donegal initially named Paul O'Hare, Kieran Gallagher and Malone as National League debutants in their lineup.

But Finbarr Roarty and Langan were late additions to the lineup though, replacing O'Hare and Gallagher.

Those two switches added not just big game experience to Donegal's team but real quality and the duo impressed throughout.

As for Dublin, their entire half-back line of Robert Shaw, Nathan Doran and Eoin Kennedy were playing their first League games. It was the same for Ethan Dunne, a Sigerson Cup winner in 2025, at midfield.

And aside from Bugler on their bench, the rest of the substitutes had just 29 League appearances between them all.

Dublin kept themselves in it for the first half hour with a couple of two-point scores from Con O'Callaghan, leaving the scores tied at 0-06 apiece.

Donegal finished the half strongly with both O'Donnells pointing, Roarty following suit and Malone finishing a speedy move with a 34th minute goal.

Donegal also fired seven wides on their way to leading by 1-9 to 0-6 at half time.

Dublin pushed hard for two-pointers in the first half but lived off singles after the break.

And they were much improved, particularly when Breathnach came on. Aside from the five points he grabbed, he also won a free that O'Callaghan pointed.

Bugler had a big impact too as Dublin buzzed in attack. But they also looked vulnerable at the back when Donegal attacked and Langan filled his boots, stretching Donegal's lead to 1-14 to 0-11 midway through the half with back-to-back two-pointers and giving the Ulster champions a vital cushion.

Scorers for Donegal: Michael Langan 0-6 (1 tp, 1 tpf, 0-1f), Gavin Mulreany 0-4 (2 tpf), Shea Malone 1-0, Dáire Ó Baoill 0-3 (1 tp), Conor O'Donnell 0-2, Shane O'Donnell 0-1, Finbarr Roarty 0-1, Ryan McHugh 0-1, Jason McGee 0-1, Caolan McGonagle 0-1.

Scorers for Dublin: Con O'Callaghan 0-8 (1 tpf, 1 tp, 1 45, 2f), Luke Breathnach 0-5, Nathan Doran 0-2, Paddy Small 0-2, Conor Tyrrell 0-2, Sean Bugler 0-1.

Donegal: Gavin Mulreany; Caolan McColgan, Brendan McCole, Finbarr Roarty; Ryan McHugh, Caolan McGonagle, Peadar Mogan; Hugh McFadden, Jason McGee; Dáire Ó Baoill, Shane O'Donnell, Ciarán Moore; Conor O'Donnell, Michael Langan, Shea Malone.

Subs: Eoghan Ban Gallagher for McColgan 48, Kieran Gallagher for Malone 54, Turlough Carr for O Baoill 64, Conor McCahill for Conor O'Donnell 68.

Dublin: Evan Comerford; Eoin Murchan, Seán MacMahon, David Byrne; Robert Shaw, Nathan Doran, Eoin Kennedy; Ethan Dunne, Tom Lahiff; Killian McGinnis, Niall Scully, Brian Howard; Paddy Small, Con O'Callaghan, Lorcan O'Dell.

Subs: Cian O'Connor for Lahiff h/t, Luke Breathnach for O'Dell h/t, Seán Bugler for Doran h/t, Conor Tyrrell for Kennedy 47, Páidí White for Dunne 48.

Referee: Noel Mooney (Cavan).