By Neil McEnaney
Connemara Gaels vs Donegal Boston
It was a repeat of last years final to kick off the senior championship for these two Boston heavyweights. The crowd in attendance were hoping for similar match in terms of entertainment and it definitely didn’t disappoint!
It was Donegal who started the brighter with Shane Carthy setting up Jordan Morrissey for the opening score. A quick ball kicked inside from James O’Grady to Sean Lowry ended with Lowry being fouled and Carthy converted the resulting free.
Connemara then responded with some great link up play between Adam Waddick and Mark Nolan leading to Waddick being wide open in front of the goals to smash the ball into the roof of the net. Connemara stayed on top then with well taken points from Ryan Fadden and Oran Cunningham from the top of the D.
A high ball in from Mark Nolan was well gathered by Cian Folan who laid it off to the onrushing Ryan Fadden. Ryan was one on one with the Donegal keeper Hugh Boyle and made no mistake from close range.
Donegal were 6 down at this point and started slowly coming back into the game. Some quick fist passing up the field led to a goal chance for Ben McCarron which was well saved by Bryan O’Flaherty in goals for Connemara, tipping it over the bar for a point.
Sean Lowry for Donegal started causing Connemara all sorts of trouble. Boyle picked him out from a kickout and some strong running led Coleman Mulkerrins to trip him resulting in a black card. Ben McCarron kicked the resulting free kick from a tough angle and close to the 45.
Donegal really put the pressure on with the extra man. McCarron made a strong run through the middle to fist a point before Ciaran McDevitt was brought to the ground for a penalty. Carthy stepped up to take the peno, but O’Flaherty guessed the right way and pulled off a great save!
Both teams traded scores to finish off the half with the goals and O’Flaherty’s goalkeeping being the difference at half time.
Half Time Score:
Donegal Boston 0-8 Connemara Gaels 2-6
Donegal won the throw up in the second half and were patient in their build up. A great turnover by Gaels captain Mulkerrins resulted in Sean Kenneddy breaking up the field to set up a well taken score from Oran Cunningham. Donegal responded with a very well taken score from McCarron from a tough angle on the left.
An off the ball tussle between Jack Lynch and Jordan Morrissey led to two yellows for the pair. Donegal slowly clawed the Gaels back to 3 points in the difference with well taken points by O’Grady and McCarron. The Gaels then worked some very quick hand passing to Oran Cunningham who found himself right in front of goals and couldn’t miss.
Michael Kerr for the Gaels picked up a great kickout down the right wing and took the ball inside and scored a beautiful point off his left. This left 8 points between the teams with Donegal with everything to do!
Cory Gallagher was sprung from the bench for Donegal and started making his presence known around the middle winning breaking ball and switching the play when needed. Donegal slowly started to claw their way back with points from Sean Maloney, McCarron and Gallagher.
Some sloppy play by both sides led to a few turnovers as the Gaels tried to wrestle back control of the game.
McCarron won a high ball on the 20 yard line and turned his man to kick a point. A series of missed chances for Donegal eventually broke to Carthy who kicked a nice point off his left. Lowry turned provider for Maloney who was fouled on his way through. McCarron took the resulting free kicking the point.
Donegal brought it back to 2 points before Oran Cunningham took on his man and scored with his left. The Donegal defenders started to get out on top making turnovers and breaking at speed. Carthy and Maloney added points to narrow the gap once more. One point between the sides.
Waddick added a point for the Gaels before Ryan McMahon and McCarron leveled the proceedings. Ross Keogh for Connemara put scored another leave a point between the sides going into extra time. Ryan Fadden for the Gaels then got a black card for a deliberate foul around the middle of the field. Morrissey moved the ball quickly to Carthy who kicked a great score from the right hand side.
Both teams had a chance to win it at the end with Fionn O’Hehir hitting the post for the Gaels and Sean Lowry dropping a shot short.
Full Time Score:
Donegal Boston: 0-22
Connemara Gaels: 3-13
Man of the Match: Ben McCarron
Teams and Scorers:
Donegal Boston:
Hugh Boyle, Neil Mulcahy, Anthony Diver, Sean Winston, Sean Moloney (0-2), Sean Doherty, Ben McGowan, Jordan Morrissey (0-1), Ben McCarron (0-9), Jimmy O’Grady (0-1), Shane Carthy (0-7), Sean Lowry, Ciaran McDevitt
Connemara Gaels:
Bryan O’Flaherty, Sean Kennedy, Fionn O’Hehir, Michael Kerr
(0-1), Colman Mulkerrin, Zaak Mahon, Adam Waddick (0-2), Oran Cunningham (1-3),
Ryan Fadden (1-1), Dylan Murtagh (1-0), Mark Nolan (0-1), Cian Folan, Ross
Keogh (0-4)
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