Dublin 2-26
Donegal 2-22
Donegal’s 2026 campaign came to an end on Sunday afternoon following a four-point defeat to Dublin after extra-time in Round 3 of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship at Croke Park.
Dublin got the afternoon’s scoring underway as Con O’Callaghan fired over a good effort from outside the arc after two minutes of play.
Donegal got off the mark on nine minutes when Eoghan ‘Bán’ Gallagher got forward to fist the ball over the bar before Conor O’Donnell levelled terms.
The next four scores were shared two-apiece, with Peadar Mogan and Michael Langan pointing for the visitors while Colm Basquel slotted over a pair of points for the hosts.
Langan soon kicked his second score of the afternoon to put Donegal back in front before they landed the contest’s first goal.
Max Campbell latched onto a stray Evan Comerford kickout and found Shea Malone who fired the ball home.
Michael Murphy soon stretched Donegal’s lead to five by kicking his first point of the game.
Ger Brennan’s side responded well, landing back-to-back points through Brian Howard and O’Callaghan but Langan kicked his third of the meeting to push Donegal’s lead back to four.
The Dubs hit back with a further two scores through Cormac Costello and O’Callaghan before finding a major of their own courtesy of O’Callaghan.
However, Jim McGuinness’s men found the back of the Dublin net for a second time just before the break through Peadar Mogan to lead by two at the short whistle.
Half-time: Dublin 1-8-2-7 Donegal
The first six scores of Act Two were shared between the sides, with Murphy (free), Finnbarr Roarty and Ryan McHugh pointing for the visitors
Meanwhile, Paddy Small (2) and Ciaran Kilkenny found white flags for the home outfit, leaving Donegal two ahead with 20 minutes left on the clock.
The Dubs continued to battle and landed two successive scores courtesy of Costello (free) and O’Callaghan (45′) to level proceedings.
However, the visitors responded immediately with a two-pointed attempt from Shane O’Donnell to restore their two-point cushion.
The momentum of the tie began to shift in the home side’s favour and they drew level once again through points from Ross McGarry and Basquel.
Jason McGee and Basquel swapped two-pointed efforts before McGee found range again, this time from inside the arc, to give Donegal the slender advantage with five minutes to go.
But Ger Brennan’s outfit hit back once again, landing their second major the the afternoon through Paddy Small to lead by two as we entered the final three minutes.
This was closely followed by a fisted point from Lee Gannon to extend their lead to three.
However, there was late drama to come as Langan found a white flag for Donegal before Murphy converted a last-gasp two-pointed free to level proceedings again and bring the match to extra-time.
Full-time: Dublin 2-18-2-18 Donegal
Both sides were shown two black cards each at the start of extra-time for an incident at the conclusion of normal time, with Michael Murphy, Jason McGee, Niall Scully and Theo Clancy all being made to sit out for ten minutes.
The home outfit controlled the opening period of extra-time, landing five points without reply, with Sean Guiden slotting over four (one two-pointer) and Ross McGarry sourcing the other.
Donegal’s only score of the half arrived in the final minute when Gavin Mulreany fired over a much needed two-pointed free to reduce the arrears to three at the break.
Donegal made a bright start to the second period of extra-time and two successive scores through Ryan McHugh reduced the deficit to the minimum.
But it was quickly undone by a pair of quickfire points from Basquel to restore Dublin’s three-point lead.
Jim McGuinness’s side tried to battle back in the closing stages but an Ó Cofaigh Byrne point two minutes from time secured the win for Ger Brennan’s men.