Shane O'Donnell on fateful final play in the Hyde and Michael Murphy's iconic status
In the frantic final seconds of the Donegal-Mayo game, there were more than just Mayo supporters appealing for their opponents to kick the ball dead after the hooter.
When Shaun Patton plonked the ball down on the kicking tee with only seconds remaining, Donegal were through in second place regardless of whether they could manufacture a winner. Mayo, meanwhile, would have survived in dramatic fashion at Cavan's expense thanks to Fergal Boland's late equaliser.
In certain other sporting cultures, there'd have been little doubt that both teams would have agreed to leave it at that. But Donegal made a late impetuous run for glory, Patton's kickout breaking for Ciarán Moore. The centre-back sped up the left wing past despairing Mayo defenders to secure the winning score - and possibly a complimentary Cavan GAA hoodie in the process.
Jim McGuinness praised his players' ruthlessness afterwards, though wing-forward Shane O'Donnell, who'd just been subbed, admits that some on the Donegal bench took a different view to those on the pitch.
"There was a few boys probably shouting at him to kick it out and all that," O'Donnell told RTÉ Sport at the launch of the All-Ireland SFC knockout series.
"And there was probably a few boys shouting at Shaun then as well to drain the clock and wait for the hooter to go.
"It was just so hard to get messages on board even when I was on the pitch. You were unable to hear things from the sideline just because of the way the stand was.
"But there was definitely a few bucks - and probably even including myself! - shouting on to kick it out. That's just not how it panned out. But we're happy with how it came out."
Were the Donegal players on the pitch actually aware of the lie of the land before the last kickout?
"I was fully aware because it was just after coming off at that stage. Now the boys on the pitch were probably a different story.
"I suppose when you are caught up in those type of games and those type of moments, you are not thinking about other things.
"Again, there was a lot of people in Hyde Park and it was hard to get messages on board with the noise from the supporters.
"I think we were shouting a few things as well but they didn't hear us... It's probably a good thing they didn't hear us in the end."
Win or draw, Donegal were set for a home preliminary tie in Ballybofey this weekend, with Louth the name to come out of the pot in Monday's draw.
That Donegal supporters had to travel to Roscommon for the neutral game against Mayo was a source of controversy, with Jim McGuinness laying into the CCCC for the decision to fix the match for the Hyde outside the dressing room afterwards.
In his comments, McGuinness noted that Hyde Park was "38 minutes from Mayo's training ground" and asserted that Donegal supporters were being "taken advantage of".
O'Donnell, however, says the players themselves weren't too concerned about the venue, even if it was asking something of travelling fans.
"There wouldn't be really much chat about it. I suppose with the big games you are kind of used to being on the road at this stage and you get your preparation and all done the night before with travelling down to hotels and etc.
"We don't get too caught up in it, it's probably more of the logistics team that are dreading the thought of it."
O'Donnell, now 23, made his Donegal debut in 2022 before opting out of the panel for the write-off campaign of 2023, a decision which did no one's reputation any harm.
After spending that summer in America, O'Donnell returned to the panel for the 2024 season, with McGuinness now back at the helm.
Having spent a few years as a student in DCU, travelling back and forth to inter-county training, O'Donnell got a teaching placement in Raphoe, where he teaches Maths and PE in the same school as Peadar Mogan.
"The big thing for me there was getting home," says O'Donnell. "I was in Dublin there for four years so it was very taxing on the body, Which kind of led to me taking the break as well there in between.
"After my first year in I thought maybe that I wasn't performing as well as I would have liked. I was maybe putting that down to fatigue and tiredness and whatnot. Driving can be hard on the body as well with hamstrings and whatnot.
"It is definitely a lot easier now being at home, it takes away the travelling. Last year, I was kind of nearly lifting out of the car at one stage.
"I suppose in terms of comparing to other years I feel a lot fresher and a lot healthier now this year. "
O'Donnell was 10 years old when Michael Murphy captained Donegal to the All-Ireland and his first season coincided with what was originally supposed to be Glenswilly great's swansong in the jersey.
Murphy, after two years of punditry work and a stint on the Football Review Committee where he helped to re-model the game we see today, he returned to the Donegal set-up in the off-season.
O'Donnell, whose St Eunan's side won the 2024 county title and were preoccupied with the Ulster club, was one of the last to find out about his return.
"I actually didn't get word of it until they got back (training). We fell short in the Ulster Championship there with the club.
"So there was rumours going about and whatnot. It was a closed camp and I didn't actually believe it until I'd seen it with my own eyes when I got back there."
Has he been startled at Murphy's form since his comeback?
"Not really, no. When you're in the club championship and he was playing for Glenswilly, they were flying with him there as well and he was performing well in all those games.
"I kind of had a fair idea that he would have settled in well whenever he came back. Probably not as well as what he's doing at the minute.
"He's a bit of an icon in there for a lot of us because there's a lot of young boys there that wouldn't have played with him beforehand."
Follow a live blog on the All-Ireland Football Championship on Saturday and Sunday on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to updates on Saturday Sport and Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch highlights on The Saturday Game at 9.15pm and The Sunday Game from 9.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
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