Neill McNicholl: Struggled all afternoon with his kickouts, shanking some, overhitting others. Lost one in the sun, got away with it. Drained of confidence and Donegal were able to poach 1-10 off Derry restarts. No chance with the goal. 5
Diarmuid Baker: Lost Conor O’Donnell for Donegal’s opening score and Oisin Gallen for his point. Didn’t really make any impact on his individual battle. 5.5
Eoin McEvoy: Wasn’t as troubled by Michael Murphy in open play as he might have expected. Outmuscled on a couple of kickouts but stood his ground on others. Just one score from play conceded. Pretty solid all in. 6.5
Martin Bradley: Did ok for a while on Patrick McBrearty but as the game wore on, the Kilcar man really came into his own, particularly the spell midway through the second half when he kicked three from play on the bounce. 5.5
Ciaran McFaul: Excellent first half. Made really good work on the Derry goal to keep the ball in and feed it quickly up the line. Clamped down on Daire Ó Baoill in the second half too. 7.5
Brendan Rogers: Outstanding performance, especially given he wasn’t expected to be fit. Big contribution to Derry’s goal, kicked two two-pointers and free of marking Murphy, he drove them on. 8
Padraig McGrogan: Still getting back to the pace of it after his long layoff, McGrogan struggled to contain Ó Baoill in the first half. Needs time to get up to speed. 6
Conor Doherty: Playing at midfield, he had decent offensive moments like his two-pointer but defensively was loose and couldn’t force his way into the kickout battle. 6
Conor Glass: Beaten in the air by Thompson for the move that ended with Donegal’s goal. Cut a frustrated figure as he struggled to judge the distance and flight of Derry’s own restarts. 6
Niall Toner: Kicked a nice early score, popped up on a couple of breaks around the middle, but got turned over a time or two as well. Worked hard to try and contain Peadar Mogan’s surges. 6
Dan Higgins: Lined up in an unfamiliar centre-forward berth to try and mitigate against Caolan McGonagle, the debutant took his goal well but didn’t really feature in the aerial battle at all. 6
Ethan Doherty: Threatened to break out his best in the first half, typified by his involvement in the goal and the winning of the penalty. Things broke down a bit after half-time but still a surprise to see him taken off. 7
Paul Cassidy: Had an early swing at one that he hooked wide. Hung about in his usual left-wing berth looking to fire off shots but Donegal were wise to him and put a good squeeze on the notion. 5.5
Shane McGuigan: Lively early on and got goalside to win a penalty. Had it and the rebound both saved. Didn’t score from play and didn’t really threaten to, with McCole tight all day. 6
Lachlan Murray: Very bright opening quarter, taking on Finbarr Roarty and threatening to hold the winning of it in his hands. But quietened significantly as it went on and had very limited impact on the second half. 6
Subs
Niall Loughlin: First involvement was to take a heavy belt from Michael Murphy. The 3v3 thing seemed to frustrate his natural inclination to work back. 6
Cahir McMonagle: Fired his one effort pretty wildly wide. 6
Patrick McGurk: Had an effort from the right that tailed away. 6
Declan Cassidy: Not on long enough to be rated.