EOGHAN MCGETTIGAN BLASTED Naomh Conaill into the Donegal Minor League final, but was sent off in the final minute after hitting 4-3.
Naomh Conaill 6-12 St Michael’s 4-12
McGettigan was the undoubted match-winner in a game that was, for a long period, a question of who, out of McGettigan and his opposite number, Odhrán McFadden, would top the charts.
McGettigan bagged his opening goal inside the first minute of the game and hit three second-half goals to fire the Glenties flagbearers into the final, where they’ll meet neighbours Ardara.
[adrotate group=”54″]McGettigan was too hot for St Michael’s to handle, but The Bridge men put up a game fight, led by the equally scintillating McFadden, who landed 3-4 of his team’s tally.
McGettigan’s otherwise superb night ended on a rather sour note, though, as he was given a second yellow card by referee Paddy McKeever in stoppage time.
Naomh Conaill got a dream start when McGettigan fired home a goal after just 56 seconds, but St Michael’s hit back when Odhrán McFadden slipped past Tony Byrne for a three-pointer at the other end.
[adrotate group=”37″]McGettigan scored a fisted point and a 40-metre free in the early moments with JD Boyle knifing his way through to score with a shot that just about cleared the St Michael’s crossbar.
But the Creeslough-Dunfanaghy men proved far from obliging opponents as Caolan Toye, twice, and Shane Langan posted scores to level it before Odhrán McFadden brilliantly sailed over from the left-flank for the lead point.
Ciaran Gallagher and a quick-fire brace from Logan Quinn – the second of them flying over when it looked for a brief moment as if he was lining up a shot at the bullseye – turned the tide in Naomh Conaill’s favour, before the pendulum was turned again.
McFadden’s second goal of the evening, managing to find the bottom corner in a packed goalmouth, came in a busy spell and the St Michael’s full-forward was at it again in the final minute of the half.
McFadden’s hat-trick arrived when he got a second bit of the cherry and tucked home.
Even then, it wasn’t enough to have his side in the clear as Naomh Conaill roared back for a goal of their own, Gallagher side-stepping Dean McColgan to even the scores as they parted for refreshments, Naomh Conaill on 2-9 with St Michael’s hitting 3-6.
McGettigan was denied by McColgan after he burst in just beforehand, but he wouldn’t be denied three minutes into the second half, turning majestically after fetching a pass from Nathan Byrne and cracking to the net.
[adrotate group=”63″]McGettigan turned provider for the fourth Naomh Conaill goal, his unselfish pass inside finding Flannery, who did the rest, slotting home with ease and McGettigan’s own hat-trick arrived when he took full advantage of a misplaced kick-out to score and put his side 5-10 to 3-10 in front with 12 minutes remaining.
Quinn teed up McGettigan for the full-forward’s fourth and Naomh Conaill’s sixth, a strike that meant there was too much between them, although St Michael’s did rally for a well-taken goal by the full-back Jamie Hunter.
Naomh Conaill: Tony Byrne; Odhrán McDevitt, Charlie McDonnell, Odhrán Doherty; JD Boyle (0-3), Cian Doherty, Leo Dunphy; Ciaran Gallagher (1-3, 1f), Paul McGuinness; Nathan Byrne, Jack Flannery (1-1), Logan Quinn (0-2); Jeaic Mac CeallabhuÃ, Eoghan McGettigan (4-3, 1f), Kealan McGill. Subs: Kealan McMonagle for Dunphy (44), Shane McDevitt for Mac Ceallabhuà (55), Danny Gallagher for McGuinness (56).
St Michael’s: Dean McColgan; Liam Kelly, Jamie Hunter (1-0), Tony Toye; Hugh O’Donnell, Caolan Toye (0-4, 3f), Ruairi Friel (0-1); Colin McFadden, Ciaran McGinley; Charles Roarty, Shane Langan (0-1), Eoghan Kelly (0-1, 1f); Lee McColgan (0-1), Odhrán McFadden (3-4, 3f), James Sharkey. Subs: Aidan McFadden for Sharkey (35, black card), Aaron Bowyer for E.Kelly (53), Kyle McGarvey for Roarty (55)
Referee: Paddy McKeever (Glenfin)
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