Cork 1-11 Donegal 1-13
It was a battle of north and south as Donegal edged out Cork in a top of the table
junior A clash. Donegal held the
advantage for first and last quarters of the game. After Donegal built a five point lead early
in the game Cork
came back to lead in the seond, but could not sustain the effort till the
end. Donegal finished the stronger of
the two to retain their unbeaten record in the competition.
It was a tough junior football battle between Cork and Donegal. |
The first 15 minutes of the game saw Donegal take advantage
of a Cork team
that took a while to figure out how to get itself into the game. Donegal dominated the middle of the field,
while Cork
struggled to put two passes together.
After Cathal Moriarty opened the scoring with a point for Cork , Donegal hit with
six on the trot. Hugh Devine kicked the
pick of them with a fine effort from the left side of the field, while Christy
McLaughlin, Dean Kelly, Owen Grant, and Pauric McLaughlin accounted for the balance. Cork
eventually got themselves into the game.
A Mike Maye point ended a rare Cork
break upfield, and after Mick Lyons blazed wide following a Cathal Moriarty
run, Cork
closed the gap with scores from Moriarty, Niall O'Connor, and Cian
Clifford. At the break the game was
finely balanced with Donegal leading by two points, 0-7 to 0-5.
Donegal edged out the rebels in the end. |
The game was tied entering the final quarter. Cork
had found themselves and the efforts of the rebels had a higher sense of
urgency and purpose. Colm Caffrey stole
forward to sneak a point, and Moriarty at corner forward threatened each time
the ball was in his hands. Cork had put themselves
into a two point lead entering the last 15 minutes, but Christy and Pauric
McLaughlin leveled matters; Pauric McLaughlin's score a fine effort from distance.
Donegal had to reassert themselves, and the northerners did
just that. A quickly taken sideline kick
found the Cork
defence napping. Christy McLaughlin had
yards of open space between him and the goal, and the corner forward gave
Kieran Reid no chance. A point followed
from the boot of McLaughlin to put four points between the teams with less than
10 minutes to go. Cork lost the mojo that they had earlier in
the half and passes missed their mark as the rebels went in search of a goal. Michael McGinty's point with minutes to go severely reduced Cork's chances of getting a result, though Lar Barden found himself
through on two occasions, one shot produced a fine save from Jonathan Byrne and
the other shaved the top of the crossbar.
Cork did score a goal, Mick Lyones buried
a shot from 14 yards to give Cork
a glimmer of hope, but in the end it was Donegal coming out on top with Christy
McLaughlin putting the final touches on the victory.
By Rory O'Donnell
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