6/16/2024 - Intermediate Football - Donegal Boston vs Kerry Boston

 By Neil McEnaney

Full Time Score:

Donegal: 3-13

Kerry: 1-16

 

Both Donegal and Kerry were coming into this game with their tails up after having convincing wins against Wolfe Tones and Christophers respectively. The pace was frantic throughout with Donegal getting the crucial goals to get over the line to take the win.

 

It was Donegal who started the brighter with Ethan McDevitt getting through on goal and taking the wise option of fisting it over the bar. Alex Doherty then found Jack O’Brien unmarked on the 21 who only had the keeper to beat and finished coolly into the bottom corner. Kerry didn’t panic and they weren’t long getting on the scoresheet thanks to the free taking of Finbar Murphy. It was Murphy who scored a goal to level it after a great move by Kerry which saw Sean Guiden finding Murphy who made no mistake from close range.

 

The midfield battle was a fascinating one with the two giants Leo Cunningham and George Kealey not giving each other an inch while Murphy and Conor O’Neill battled for the breaking ball. There really was nothing between the teams throughout the first half as when one team scored, the other was soon to level it.

 

Cunningham broke through the Kerry defence with some strong running to set up Alex Doherty for a goal which he finished into the bottom corner. Some fantastic points from the left boot of Ryan O’Grady kept the sides level at half time.

 

Half Time Score:

Donegal: 2-5

Kerry: 1-8

 

Murphy opened the scoring in the second half for Kerry before Donegal hit their stride scoring 4 points in a row from McGarvey, Doherty (x2) and O’Neill. The introduction of Cian O’Grady off the bench for Donegal made a huge difference as he used all his pace and skill to open up the Kerry defence. In the Kerry attack, Ryan O’Grady was unmarkable at times kicking some great points off his left foot.

 

It was Cian who got the goal to put Donegal 6 up. O’Neill fed Cian the ball who burst through the Kerry defence with great speed before blasting it into the net.

 

Once again, Kerry didn’t panic. They started winning the midfield battle and slowly chipped away at the Donegal lead getting it back to 3 points.

 

Donegal showed all their experience with and started holding on to the ball in their own back line to wind down the clock. The patient build up play paid off with Ryan McMahon kicking a point from the top of the D.

 

Kerry got it back to three points and had one more goal chance at the end that hit the side netting. A fantastic game of football that could have went either way.

 

Man of the Match: Jack O’Brien

 

Teams and Scorers:

Donegal Boston:

Darren Grant, James Newell, Mark McFadden, Ryan McMahon (0-1), Jack O’Brien (1-0), Sean Donnelly, Conor O’Neill (0-3), Leo Cunningham (0-1), Ethan McDevitt (0-1), Alex Doherty (1-4), Ben Bradley, Tiarnan McHugh (0-1), Blake McGarvey (0-1)

Subs: Cian O’Grady (1-1)

 

Kerry Boston:

Sean Bohan, Luke Chester, Paul Ring, Deividas Uisis, John Cooper, Gary Vaughn (0-1), George Kealey, Finbar Murphy (1-4), Darragh Curtin, Sean Guiden (0-1), Connor Stark (0-2), Ryan O’Grady (0-6), Mattie Farrell (0-1)

Subs: Number 14 (0-1)

 

Referee: Robbie Croft