Saturday, July 4th 2026 - Men's Senior Football Championship - Donegal Boston vs Aidan McAnespies

 

Donegal Boston vs Aidan McAnespies

Donegal Boston 4-16 | Aidan McAnespies 1-19

The Macs opened the scoring of the game with a point from Mark Barry. Donegal responded with a goal from Shane Carthy following a kick pass from Jordan Morris. Mark Barry pointed again for the Macs to make it 1-0 to 0-2.

Thomas Galligan won a Donegal kickout and kick-passed it into Patrick Lynch, who found the back of the net for Donegal's second goal of the game.

Adam Fanning added a point for the Macs off his left before Mark Barry added another, making it 2-0 to 0-4.

Donegal got their first point of the afternoon through Johnny Heaney following a patient attack. Nicky Sherlock replied with a point for the Macs to leave the scoreboard reading 2-1 to 0-5.

Donegal struck for their third goal when Patrick Lynch broke through the Macs defence. Adam Fanning responded with another point for the Macs just before the water break.

Following the break, Patrick Lynch converted a 2-pointer before adding a pointed free to extend Donegal's lead to 3-4 to 0-6.

Adam Fanning tapped over another point for the Macs before Patrick Lynch added another free for Donegal. Donegal pushed for a fourth goal, but Seán O'Donnell's effort was well saved by Macs goalkeeper Cormac McCartan.

Mark Barry converted a free for the Macs to make it 3-5 to 0-8.

Johnny Heaney then swung over a 2-pointer for Donegal before Shane Carthy fisted over a point. Patrick Lynch added another free just before the half-time whistle.

Half-time:

Donegal Boston 3-9 | Aidan McAnespies 0-8

The Macs opened the second half with a 2-pointer from Mark Barry before Adam Fanning added another point off his left to reduce the deficit to 3-9 to 0-11.

Seán O'Donnell added a point for Donegal before Darragh Lyne broke through on goal for the Macs. His effort was well saved by Donegal goalkeeper Hugh Boyle. The resulting 45 was not converted.

Jordan Morris added Donegal's next point to make it 3-11 to 0-11.

Pete O'Connell came off the bench for the Macs and swung over a 2-pointer. Jordan Morris responded with two points for Donegal to leave the scoreboard at 3-13 to 0-13 just before the water break.

Darragh Lyne converted a 2-pointer for the Macs before Donegal substitute Cian O'Grady replied with a point to make it 3-14 to 0-15.

Donegal got their fourth and final goal through Jordan Morris, who finished well off his left boot. Mark Barry converted a 2-point free for the Macs before Liam O'Driscoll fisted over a point for Donegal.

Substitute Patrick McElwee added a pointed free for Donegal. Charlie Power came off the bench for the Macs and split the posts with a 2-pointer to make it 4-16 to 0-19.

The Macs kept battling until the end and Dylan Byrne found the back of the net after linking up with Eoin Gormley.

The referee blew the full-time whistle shortly afterwards as Donegal claimed the victory.

Full-time:

Donegal Boston 4-16 | Aidan McAnespies 1-19

Teams & Scorers:

Donegal Boston:

1. Hugh Boyle
2. Mark McFadden
3. Kevin Flynn
4. Liam O'Driscoll (0-1)
5. Jordan Morrissey
6. Pa Warren
7. Thomas Galligan
8. Shane Carthy (1-1)
9. Seán O'Donnell (0-1)
10. Johnny Heaney (0-3, x1 2-pointer)
11. Ciarán McDevitt
12. Jordan Morris (1-3)
13. Patrick Lynch (2-5, x1 2-pointer, x3 frees)

Subs:

Cian O'Grady (0-1)

Patrick McElwee (0-1, x1 free)

Aidan McAnespies:

1. Cormac McCartan
2. Conall Devlin
3. Bobby Walker
4. Owen Ward
5. Ronan Fox
6. Nicky Sherlock (0-1)
7. Jake Flynn
8. Eoin Gormley
9. Rory Brolly
10. Darragh Lyne (0-2, x1 2-pointer)
11. Stephen Ward
12. Mark Barry (0-8, x2 2-pointers, x2 frees)
13. Adam Fanning (0-4)

Subs:

Pete O'Connell (0-2, x1 2-pointer)

Charlie Power (0-2, x1 2-pointer)

Dylan Byrne (1-0)

The livestream can be watched back on the Boston Northeast GAA YouTube channel.