Donegal Seniors beat Cork

Cork 0-8 Donegal 1-15

Donegal made short work of Cork in a one sided affair. With the rebels out of contention, and Donegal looking to book a place in the senior semi-finals, the motivation was with the northerners. Donegal did not need to shift into top gear to win the points from the game and sitting on 10 points, have now probably booked a place in the senior semi-finals.
Keith Cunningham eludes the attention of Niall Devlin.

Kildare man, Eamonn Murphy set the tone with a point right from the throw-in. Cian Griffin answered for Cork, but Donegal put 1-7 up before Cork scored again. Kevin Curran was in sharp form for Donegal, the seasoned campaigner put five of the seven Donegal points over the bar, two from frees. Ronan McNeilis and Donal McNulty were on top in the middle of the field as Cork struggled. The rebels did manufacture some decent chances, but they were few and far betweem. The best of them fell to lively Niall Devlin who was put through on goal, but Niall McConnell was equal to the shot and parried it over the bar for a point – Cork’s second and final score of the first half. Eamonn Murphy put a goal away before half time, the Leixlip man slid the ball into the far corner from the edge of the small square. At the half time whistle Cork were 10 points in the hole, 1-9 to 0-2 with little chance of digging themselves out of it.

Cork's Mike Moynihan and Ronan McNeilis Contest a kickout.
The second half was more of the same. Donegal eased off a little through the second 30 minutes. There was not much chance of an upset of the sort from the previous evening when Galway defeated the Wolfe Tones, and Christopher’s came within a whisker of upending Armagh-Notre Dame. Donegal introduced a few subs in the second half, and Cork tried to shift things around to get more change out of the Donegal back line. Kieran Connolly took a more forward position, while Devlin came deeper out the field. Cork fared better on the balance of play, but there was no doubt about who the winner would be. Conrad Bradley and Mike Moynihan get their names on the scorecard in the second half for Cork, but Declan Murphy, Eoin Wade, Eamon Murphy, Ronan Diver, and Kieran Mulvihill got in on the scoring act for Donegal. Not much of a test for Donegal, who may get a better gauge of where they stand when they face the Connemara Gaels in two weeks time.
Cork: K. Reid, M. Carolan, S. Caulfield, D. Kearns, J. Leonard, A. Creagh, Mike Moynihan (0-3), K. Connolly, D. O’Flynn, Conrad Bradley (0-1), K. Moriarty, Niall Devlin (0-3), Cian Griffin (0-1). Donegal: N. McConnell, S. Lee, T. Maguire, P. Witherow, K. Cunningham, Eoin Wade (0-1), D. McNulty, R. McNeilis, Kevin Curran (0-6), Eamonn Murphy (1-4), Ronan Diver (0-1), Declan Murphy (0-2), G.Concar. Sub: Kieran Mulvihill (0-1).

By Rory O'Donnell @ Thar An Trasnan

Donegal Juniors book semi final place

Donegal 2:10

Wolfetones 1:04

Canton, MA Sunday July 27th. Hot and humid conditions met both teams at the ICC Canton on Sunday morning. The Donegal juniors showed the greater hunger throughout and booked their place in the semi finals against either Kerry or Cork. A 2007 defeat to the Tones meant that Donegal failed to advance to the semi final stages, this never looked like happening today. Right from the opening whistle the Tones failed to deal with the Donegal forward line who attacked at every opportunity. As the Tones struggled to get the ball out past their own 45, Donegal forwards punished them on a number of occasions. Some fast thinking on a Donegal free allowed team captain Paul Friel to dribble around the Tones keeper and extend their first half lead. Half time score 1:06 to 0:02. It was much the same from Donegal in the second half and they continued to punish the Tones. As Donegals lead grew, it led to a number of personel changes and fresh legs coming into the team. Eamon Kelly missed a number of opportunities to further extend the northern mens lead. In the end Donegal proved too strong for a Wolfetones team that wont see the playoffs this year. All squad members had a big part to play in this win. Donegals defence excelled throughout with Rory Grant and Damian Harkin keeping the Tones danger men quiet. Simon McDonagh and Jonathan Byrne continue to form a formidable midfield partnership. In the forward line all men had a part to play especially Paul Boyce and our Tyrone friends Micky Corr and Aidan O'Hagan. After 5 games, Donegal have 4 wins. Our last league game is against the Conamara Gaels on Sunday August 3rd. All support is appreciated. Donegal team: Emmet McLaughlin(Moville), Damian Harkin(Urris), Rory Grant(Burt), Felix Granaghan(Bundoran), Daryl McNulty(Fermanagh), Kieran McGee(Robert Emmets), Jonathan Byrne(Malin), Simon McDonagh( St.Johns, Antrim), Paul Friel Capt(Urris), Aidan O'Hagan(Galbally, Tyrone), Paul Boyce(Carrigart), Shane Kelly(Urris), Michael Corr(Galbally, Tyrone) Subs Gareth Ruddy(Carndonagh), Mark Canny(Carndonagh), Kieran Friel (Urris), Eamon Kelly(Buncrana), Ricky Rush(Robert Emmets), Colm O'Sullivan (Kerry)

The Donegal team in their new kit sponsored by Sean Farrell Construction that defeated Kerry 1:14 to 0:06 on July 13th.

Mayo v Donegal July 20
Donegal 0-16 Mayo 1-4Donegal dispatched Mayo with little difficulty on a hot and humid afternoon. Mayo kept it level thru the end of the first quarter thanks to a somewhat fortunate goal, but after that Donegal imposed themselves on the game were always in control. From the middle of the field to lively corner forwards, Gareth Concar and Declan Murphy, Donegal dominated proceedings and set themselves up well for the run-in to the playoffs.The expectations were for Donegal to win this game, and the first half underlined the superiority of the northerners. Mayo put a point and goal together midway through the half, but spent most of the time trying to hold their opponents at bay rather than thinking too much about engineering scores of their own. Donegal put four points over the bar before Mayo got off the ground. Gareth Concar, Ronan McNeilis, and Kevin Curran each pointed for Donegal before Ronan Rochfort got Mayo on the scoreboard after 12 minutes. Mayo leveled the scores soon after with a goal from Sean Gerrity that might have Donegal management concerned with the defending.. A point attempt came high off the post, and Gerrity was waiting unimpeded to gather the ball and slip it below the keeper. All square. Not for long though as Donegal put another six points over the bar in the latter part of the half, while Mayo laboured to match their opponents. Gareth Concar and Declan Murphy were full of running in the Donegal full forward line. Concar was a major threat for Donegal, and had three points in his name before the half was out. Dualtach Molloy pointed twice before half time to put Donegal at a six point advantage.

Mayo claimed the first two scores of the second half – both points, and almost goaled but Pat Hickey’s shot came back into play off the inside of the post. Had it gone in it could have rattled Donegal nerves and provided Mayo with a platform to attempt a comeback. Donegal center forward, Eamonn Murphy played a part in Donegal’s response. Murphy put a dead ball over the bar with a free from 50 yards, and then found Dualtach Molloy for a second point to restore Donegal’s six point advantage. Gervaise Toner fisted over a great point for Mayo after 10 minutes, but that would be it for the westerners. Donegal went on to finish the game with four unanswered points, Molly, Concar, and two from Murphy, and put themselves in a good position senior championship playoff hunt.Donegal: N. McConnell, T. Maguire, S. Lee, P. Witherow, K. Cunningham, N. Hegarty, D. McNulty, Ronan McNeilis (0-1), Kevin Curran (0-1), Eamonn Murphy (0-2), Dualtach Molloy (0-4), Gareth Concar (0-4), Declan Murphy (0-4).. Mayo: D. O’Malley, S. Clifford, M. Murphy, C. Clifford, M. Hunt, T. Scanlon, Ronan Rochford (0-2), C. Brennan, Rory Gavin (0-1), Gervase Toner (0-2), Sean Gerrity (1-0), P. Hickey, B. McStay.

By Rory O'Donnell