Na Rossa were on the wrong end of the scoreline during their Michael Murphy Sports Junior A Championship match against St. Mary's Convoy last night, but the game will surely forever be remembered for the return of an inter-county legend.
So stuck were Na Rossa for men, the Lettermacaward club turned to 1992 All-Ireland winner Declan Bonner - and they stuck him in nets.
Now 50 years old, Bonner last lined out for Na Rossa in 2013, and the Donegal Minor manager - a former right corner forward - kept a clean sheet between the sticks last night as his club fell to Mary's.
Na Rossa were missing eight players, with Donegal Sports Hub reporting that regular 'keeper Patrick Joseph Hanlon was on a pre-planned trip with Daryl Devenney, Brian Breslin, Jamie McCready and Conor Melly. John McDyre and Christian Bonner had work, and Conor Bonner also missed out for unexplained reasons.
The elder Bonner told Donegal Sport Hub:
I'll be hard to take out of nets now!
We should have won the game. We missed a rake of chances. We'd thought on Friday about actually forfeiting the game, but we scraped together a team and got men resurrected!
We'd only have an average of maybe 18 or 19 any given week anyway.
Bonner's last club appearance three summers ago also arrived in goal. Maybe it's just in the name.
In 2014 he managed the Donegal minor team to the 2014 Ulster title, and then to a first ever All-Ireland Final where they were defeated by Kerry.
