Thar an Trasnán

Donegal 1-11 Christopher’s 1-11

Donegal and Christopher’s played out an unusual 60 minutes of football.  For long stretches it looked as though Christopher’s had the upper hand in the game, however, they will have been happy to exit the gate with their first point of the season in the pocket thanks to a Cathal Vaughan injury time equalizer.

Donegal's Emlyn Mulligan fends off the challenge of Liam Kitterick.

Christopher’s may have been a little disappointed to have gone into the break with just a four point lead.  Having enjoyed most of the possession Christopher’s struggled to break down the Donegal back line, and probably did themselves no favours with stray passes and a handful of missed chances. Donegal hung in with some well taken scores from Emlyn Mulligan who lined out at corner forward and took advantage of the chances that came his way via the free or from play to keep the sides on level pegging coming up to half time.  

Eventually Christopher’s broke through with a goal from Mark Delaney with about 5 minutes to go in the half, Delaney’s finish a trademark blast into the roof of the net.  The goal provided a three point cushion and Christopher’s added another point before the whistle. 

Christopher's center back Sean White gets away from Brian Kelly in this encounter.

The second half saw Donegal enjoy a slight advantage in possession as Christopher’s tired with the half wearing on.  Nicky Kelly at corner forward was a major threat in the second stanza and tallied three points, one chance could have ended up in the back of the net but flew over the crossbar, while Kelly also had 2 chances at a major saved as Donegal carved open the Christopher’s defence on two occasions.  

Coming into the final minutes Christopher’s still held a 2 point edge.  Tom Fahy, Eoghan Keogh, Ryan Harkin, and Vaughan with a fine solo effort, had pointed to keep them ahead.  The goal was on the cards however.  Vaughan lost the ball just inside the Donegal half and the turnover finally ended in the hands of Rory Dunleavy who did the honors and it looked like the northerners had made the breakthrough for the spoils.  Not ill the fat lady sings as they say, Vaughan came to the rescue with a point to salvage a point with no time left for the kickout. 

Donegal:  J. Byrne, M. Canny, S. Doherty, T. McCleneghan, D. Green, G. Gallagher, M. Smyth, M. Dunphy, R. Dunleavy, B. Kelly, E. McFadden, N. Kelly, E. Mulligan.  Christopher’s:  E. Keogh, K. Fulignati, L. Kitterick, E. O’Neill, S. White, P. Kenneally, R. Harkin, C. Murphy, M. Delaney, J. Horgan, T. Fahy, E. Keogh, C. Vaughan.

By Rory O'Donnell