Donegal claim first silverware of 2008

Donegal captain Kevin Curren, receives the Pat O'Brien memorial cup from Pat's long time friend John Flaherty. Picture/NeilMcDaid

Canton MA, Sunday May 18th. Donegal coasted to a comfortable win over the Wolfe tones in perfect conditions in the Pat O'Brien cup final. Donegals task was made a lot easier with the dismissal Tones midfielder McVeigh mid way through the first half. Donegal took an early lead with points from Mulvihill, Curran and MacNiallais. Donegals went in at half time leading by 0:07 to 0:04.

One down, one to go, Donegal now set their sights on the 2008 Boston Northeast Championship. Picture/NeilMcDaid

Despite being a man down it was the Tones who dominated the early stages of the second half, but they could never get their noses in front. Donegal moved up a few gears mid way through the second half and the Tones had no answer to Donegals numerical advantage. Donegal swarmed forward adding numerous points from Molloy and Mulvhill. The introduction of Mc Ginty, McGee and Friel brought fresh legs into the game for Donegal. Within seconds McGinty had his first point and would later goal for the Northerner's. In between Molloy was pulled down by the Wolfe tones keeper for a penalty, he coolly brushed himself down and sent the penalty right down the middle past the Tones keeper. Tones failed to convert a late penalty. In the end the tones had no answer the pace of Donegal forward line and were held at bay by a stubborn Donegal defence marshalled by McEwen. Final score Donegal 2:14 Wolfe tones 0:06.

Donegal captain Kevin Curran accepted the Pat O'Brien cup and Donegal celebrated into the early hours. Donegal team C Murphy, G McDermott, S Lee, P Collins, S McEwen, D McNulty, R MacNiallais, D McNulty, P Roper, R Diver, K Curran, D Molloy, K Mulvihill Subs M McGinty, K McGee, P Friel.

Donegal get back to business next Sunday in the first round of the senior championship, their opponents will again be the Wolfe tones. Throw in time at Canton is 5:00pm. No doubt this should be a closer affair as the Tones try to avenge last Sundays defeat.

Donegal advance to the Pat O'Brien cup final.

Donegal squeezed past Cork in a closely contested cup semi final at Canton on Sunday. In what proved to be a game of two halves, Donegal impressed in the opening half with Cork putting up a tremendous fight back in the second half. Early exchanges were evenly contested but Donegal’s dominance grew towards the later stages of the first half.

The highlight of the first half saw Kieran McGee advancing from half back to collect a cross field pass that he made no mistake in putting over the bar. Points followed from Curran, McNulty and Roper, Donegal went in at the break with a 0:09 to 0:04 lead. Cork gained the upper hand in the second half and quickly ate away at Donegal’s lead.

A missed goal chance for Cork meant that they didn’t take a lead over Donegal. Letterkenny native Dualtach Molloy put Donegal back into the lead only for Cork to again level the scores. As the minutes ticked away, it looked like this game was heading for a draw until Kieran Mulvihil managed to score the winning point from a tight angle.

Final Score Donegal 0:13 Cork 0:12 Donegal now advance to play Wolfetones in the final scheduled for 2:30 on Sunday May 18th. The Donegal management will be hoping for a better performance against a Tones team that defeated Aidan MacAnespies in the other semi final game. This should be an intriguing contest as both teams are due to meet in their opening championship game the following week.

Donegal team C Murphy, G McDermott, S Lee, R Diver, P Collins, R MacNiallais, D McNulty, D Harkin, P Roper, K Curran, D Molloy, K Mulvihill