LAGAN HARPS ladies were the big winners from Donegal on the opening day of the 2015 Hughes Insurance Foyle Cup.
Brid McGinty’s girls handed Roe Valley an 11-0 hammering at Lisnagelvin. The one-sided contest saw Lagan trounce the deflated County Derry outfit and they now face the defending champions Greencastle FC this evening.
Greencastle, who defeated Sion Swifts in last year’s final, lost 2-1 against Derry City on Monday night, meaning their clash with Lagan is now a crunch fixture for the Inishowen girls.
Lagan were home and hosed long before the break when they led 5-0.
Erin Coll started at ended the rout, putting her side in front in the 12th minute before adding number 11 late in the evening.
Coll’s composed finish fired Lagan ahead after early chances for Nakita Burke and Zoe Greene. Burke would end with six goals to her name on a profitable night at the office.
Burke hit a quick-fire hat-trick in the first half. A well-worked short corner led to her first and she made it 3-0, turning home Coll’s cross and her hat-trick was completed when she followed up after Ciana Brogan’ effort was parried. Coll made it 5-0 and Burke wasted no time in getting the second half scoring underway with a deadly finish.
With Caroline Gallagher excellent in the engine room, Lagan swept to an easy win. Time and time again, Gallagher was the orchestrator for Lagan with a series of perfectly-weighted passed in behind the Roe Valley rearguard.
Greene netted the goal of the game with a majestic lob from 20 yards with Burke (2), Brogan and Coll on the mark to seal a remarkable win that puts them in pole position.
Illies Celtic’s ladies had a big 5-0 win over Killen Rangers in their opening game.
Letterkenny Rovers (pictured above) suffered a 6-2 defeat in the Under-19 section against Derry City at the Brandywell. St Johnston’s Ronan Curtis bagged a hat-trick for the Candystripes, who pulled clear in the second half.
Curtis opened the scoring only for Kennedy Boache-Ansah to level things up.
https://wwwyoutube.com/watch?v=-cePsT77_As
Kevin O’Donnell’s penalty for Letterkenny Rovers against Derry City
Video courtesy of Stephen Doherty
A Ciaron Harkin penalty and another from Ryan Doherty put City 3-1 ahead, but Kevin O’Donnell’s penalty gave Rovers hope.
City settled again with Curtis netting either side of a Stephen Mills strike.
Simon McGlynn scored the only goal of the game as Finn Harps under-19s overcame Willowbank while Aileach secured a fine 2-2 draw with Killarney Athletic and in the Under-15 section Harps Under-15s defeated Sion Swifts 2-1 and Inishowen League got the better of Trojans, winning 5-0.
Kevin McHugh’s Donegal Schoolboys Under-13s, who won the National Cup this year, got off to a perfect start thanks to a 5-1 win over Institute. Ronan McKinley (2), Jack Murphy, Conor Black and Jason McDaid were on the mark. The Eloka Asokhu-managed Donegal Under-15s had a big 7-1 win over Oliver Plunketts, helped along by a hat-trick from Justin McGee.
In the Under-17 competition, Oran Higgins’ acrobatic overhead kick handed Kildrum Tigers (pictured top) a 1-0 win over American outfit Rampo Valley. Despite being without boxing star Brett McGinty from their defence, Kildrum held on for a fine win.
A full list of results and fixtures can be found at Foyle Cup website
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