Donegal 4-7 Connemara Gaels
3-13
The Gaels booked their place in the quarter finals thanks to
a three point win over Donegal. The
Gaels took the field minus several of their squad though pulled out the win,
and concerningly for them, conceded 4 goals.
It could be said that the first 2 were more Gaels lack of concentration,
but for the second 2 Donegal opened the Gaels defence a little too easily -
something that will need correcting before the westerners face Kerry in next
Sunday's quarter final.
 |
| Damien Comer has his eye on this one. |
The Gaels held a four point lead at the break. The Connemara
men will be shaking their heads that it was not at least seven. At the very end of the half Donegal won a
free and with players attention on an injured Donegal man, Ryan Rafferty took a
quick one and netted - the goal stood.
The Gaels had built up a 7 point lead over the 30 minutes. Two goals, one from Michael Lundy and another
from Robbie Kiely went in. Points came
from the boots of Coleman Mulkerrins, Kiely, Niall Maguire, and Noel
Graham. Ryan Hyde and Damien Comer
looked comfortable in the middle of the field.
Donegal however kept pace thanks to Gary Maguire goal, and Rafferty's
late effort. Maguire took full advantage
of a poor clearance from the Gaels defence and exerted maximum punishment. At the break it was 2-8 to 2-4 in favour of
the westerners.
 |
| Michael Lundy with Tom Caldwell in attendance. |
The second half saw the Gaels maintain their lead, though there
were a number of missed chances to extend it.
The Gaels continued to enjoy an edge in the possession stakes. A 1-2 to 0-1 start to the half extended the
Gaels lead to 8 points. Niall Maguire
finished the goal following a Ryan Hyde interception in the middle of the
field. However, when going forward
Donegal always looked like making something happen. The northerners kept the game
interesting. The Gaels defence opened up
for Rafferty about mid way though the half and the quick corner forward put the
ball past Eoin Conneely to narrow the gap to 5 points. The Gaels built up again the lead once more,
outscoring Donegal 3 points to one. A
fourth Donegal goal went in however, this time from Sean Burke and once again
the gap was narrowed to 4 points. Donegal
pointed once more and with time running out there was a goal in it. The final whistle went before Donegal had
another chance to try and net a fifth - and tie the game, though they needed
the win. The Gaels finished joint second
with Christopher's. As it turned out it
was Christopher's name that was pulled out of the hat for the bye into the
semi-final. The Gaels have a quarter
final date with Kerry next Sunday.
Gaels: E. Connelly,
D. Doolan, L. Cullen, S. Conneely, C. Cullen, R. Kiely (1-1), D. Comer (0-3),
R. Hyde, M. Lundy (1-1), N. Graham (0-4), K. Owens, C. Mulkerrins (0-3), N.
McGuire (1-1). Donegal: G. Sheilds, M. Canny, A. Williams, S. Tim, T.
Caldwell, J. Dolan (0-1), S. Burke (1-2), C. Bell, S. Brennan, P. Hughes (0-1),
P. McLoughlin, G. Maguire (1-1), R. Rafferty (2-1). Sub: N.
McConnell (0-1).
By Rory O'Donnell
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