St. Eunan’s qualified for the semi-finals of the Donegal senior hurling championship with a comprehensive win over Aodh Ruadh in O’Donnell Park on Saturday evening.
St. Eunan’s 3-19 Aodh Ruadh 1-07
By Paddy Flood
Playing with the wind in the first half, the home team took firm control of the game early on, building up a six-point lead after 15 minutes, with well worked scores from Kevin Kealy and Colm Flood the highlights.
Aodh Ruadh failed to convert a number of frees and half chances and found winning possession difficult against a dominant home defence where Conor O’Grady, Conor Parke and Ciaran Kelly stood out.
[adrotate group=”68″]The gap widened on 22 minutes when Kealy broke through the Ballyshannon rearguard and shot low to the net. Four more points from Sean McVeigh and Eugene Organ left the visitors 1-10 to 0-0 adrift at the break.
Following a quick McVeigh point after the interval, Aodh Ruadh had their best spell of the game. With Chris Kilgallon and Colm Kelly providing possession they scored 1-2 without reply in a four minute spell.
Ciaran Kilgallon and Kelly pointed and this was followed by a close range goal from Stephen Connolly on 37 minutes. McVeigh set Organ up for a point in reply, but Damian Coughlin went close when he drove a twenty metre shot just over the crossbar.
[adrotate group=”70″]An unlikely comeback looked possible, but the Letterkenny men took control again with Flood, Sean Halvey and Steven Doherty dominating the middle of the park. McVeigh and Kealy continued to be accurate from play and frees.
The game as a contest finished when Organ struck a penalty goal on 52 minutes. Aodh Ruadh battled on with scores from the Kilgallon brothers and Coughlin. However, the scoring ended with a late Flood goal for St. Eunan’s when he fired a rebound to the net.
[adrotate group=”38″]St. Eunan’s: James Connors, Brian McIntyre, Eunan O’Donnell, Ciaran Kelly, Adie Gaffey, Conor O’Grady, Conor Parke, Colm Flood (1-2), Steven Doherty, Sean Halvey, Sean McVeigh (0-11, 7 frees), Darragh McCarthy, Kevin Kealy(1-4), Eugene Organ (1-2, 1-0 penalty), Gearoid Leahy. Subs: Aaron O’Connell, Caoimhin Lennon, Eoin Scanlon, Cian Durack, Conor Kelly, Cormac Hartnett, John McIntyre, Sean McBride, Anthony Horgan, John Ireland, Paddy Flood.
Aodh Ruadh: Darren Gillespie, Ciaran Rami, Jack Matthews, Liam Coughlin, Thomas Gillespie, Chris Kilgallon (0-1), Stephen Sheerin, Ciaran Kilgallon (0-3, 2 frees), Damian Coughlin (0-2), Stephen Connolly (1-0), Anthony Coughlin, Conor McNeely, Colm Kelly (0-1), Danny Hayden, Brendan Gillespie, Martin Larkin, Shane McNulty, Kevin Loughlin, Aidan Begley.
Referee: JJ Lafferty (Carndonagh).
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