 Congratulations to Caroline Walsh and her U-12 girls team who won a blitz held at Gartan over the weekend. Well done also to Marty Byrne and his U-16 team who opened their league campaign on Saturday morning last with a resounding 9-4 win over Carrick. Scorers on the day were Owen Anderson with a hat-trick, Shane Leonard, Ryan Early, Josh Lacey, David McDonagh, Kyle Sheridan and Patrick O’Kennedy who all scored one each. The team have a free weekend next weekend. The club would like to wish Marty and the lads all the best for the remainder of the season and hopefully all the hard work been done will bring success at the end of the season.
The senior team, under the joint managership of Peter Donaghy and Rory Dunlevy, has commenced their league campaign. Having only very narrowly been defeated by St. Catherines in the area final of the Brian McCormick sportsmans league cup recently, they entered the new season in good form, with some strong performances under their belt, and with a strong panel signed this year, we have good reason to approach the new season with optimism. This season sees the team face a new challenge, having won promotion to Division One at the end of last season and indeed it is a very positive sign of the ambition and confidence amongst the players and management that a similar feat is possible again this year.
The team began their campaign with an away trip to Lifford Celtic, traditionally a very tough fixture. Travelling with a strong panel and in confident mood, the feeling was that it was essential to take maximum points from our first game in the higher division. And while being made work to the very final whistle we came away with a 2-1 victory. Benny Byrne and Kevin Coulter scored early in the second half to give us a well deserved 2-0 lead. After this however, we seemed to relax just a little too much and allowed them in with 10 minutes to go to make it 2-1. While Lifford never placed any great pressure on us, we were forced to play out a nervous last 10 minutes to come away with 3 great points. Division one will indeed be more competitive than we were used to last year and we must be prepared to play for the full 90 minutes and lapses in concentration will be punished. It is hoped that a lesson will be learned from this game.
Last weekend saw the team host Lagan Harps in the second game of the season. Welcoming back Pauric McGlynn for his first game for the club for a number of seasons, we started very well and had a number of good chances early on. Aaron Slevin, with a superb header after a great move and Pauric McGlynn with a great shot from outside the box, brought the best out of the goalkeeper. Playing some nice football, never allowing Lagan to settle, Donegal controlled the first half but went in at half-time with the game still scoreless. Lagan had produced a few moments at the end of the first half to who show that they could not be taken for granted, despite Donegal’s dominance in the first half.
The second half again started brightly for Donegal and it was from a corner beautifully flighted by Daniel McGarrigle that Pauric McGlynn announced his comeback with a powerful header. Benny Byrne made it 2-0 slotting home nicely when a great through ball from Aaron Slevin left him one on one with the Lagan goalkeeper. 2-0 and cruising - unfortunately, lessons from the previous week had been forgotten and Lagan were allowed to come back into it. They got their first goal direct from a free kick and the second after a mix-up in the box. Donegal still had plenty of chances to win the game, missing a penalty while the score was at 2-1 and a number of very good chances when the score was at 2-2. Disappointed but not disheartened, one draw and one win from our first two games in Division one is well acceptable and hopefully we can build on that next week when we make the trip to Letterkenny Rovers. Rory Dunlevy
Pictured above: Donegal Town FC wearing their new kit before their first home game of the season
Back l-r: Martin Byrne, Rory Dunlevy, Aaron Slevin, Kevin Haughey, Pauric McGlynn, Warren Montgomery, Kevin Coulter, Kevin McGlanaghy, Robert Timony Front: David McGroary, Terry O’Doherty, Daniel McGarrigle, Paul Cannon, Glen Coulter, John Paul Byrne, Benny Byrne, Ramie McGroary Photo: Jason McGarrigle
Donegal Demons players train with Dungannon RFC!
There was a master class in coaching for the youth section of Donegal Town RFC when one of the strongest teams in Ulster rugby, Dungannon, brought their players to The Holmes for a weekend of intense pre-season training. Under the watchful eye of former Ireland, British and Irish Lions second row, Jeremy Davidson, Dungannon trained with an intensity and attention to detail that was a real eye-opener for the young Donegal Demon’s players watching.
The highlight of each session for these Demon’s players was when they were allowed to take part in one of the drills or a touch rugby match. Dungannon proved to be real ambassadors for the game, in the way both the players and coaching staff made themselves available to the young Donegal players over the weekend.
Jeremy Davidson, Dungannon’s Director of Rugby, was player of the series on the great Lions team who comprehensively beat the South Africans when they were reigning World Champions. He brought his players off the pitch at The Holmes straight across to the beach after the Saturday session, where they cooled off with a game of water rugby. One of the Donegal Demons U14 players said, “now I can tell everyone I played on the same team as Jeremy Davidson in an overseas match”. Nice try!
Bluestack Ramblers 4th annual walk to Brockagh
Twenty-seven members and friends set off on a very wet and windy morning for Brockagh. As the Ramblers were heading up the path they were greeted by the Slevin family who had a stall with an selection of muffins, carrot cake, boiled eggs etc to keep them munching on their way.
The weather was so bad, it was decided to forgo the ‘Lovely Legs’ competition. This competition was so popular last year that there was much disappointment. But Alan Slane and Owen Smyth had their legs exposed until lunch-time in the hope that it would go ahead.
After lunch, trotting along the slippery slopes, Ann Gallagher from Trim in Co Meath had one slip too many. In stepped Mick McGonigle, who is a very fitting ‘Nurse’and after much searching and the trying on of various bandages, he decided to use his triangular bandage on the arm and escort her down the hill. It was noted also that Ann’s husband Patsy came running back up the hill to make sure she was okay before heading off again.
By the time we reached Brockagh we were all weary and ready for a drink. Some of the ladies did a quick change and put on the lipstick. There was chips, beer and dancing before the bus picked the weary walkers up to take then back through the Bluestacks. The chairperson, Maureen Cannon being from a musical background herself decided to conduct a ‘Singing Competition’. In the end, the competition was between Joe Lynam and Ann Gallagher. Maureen had a very difficult task deciding who would win the prize. Ann Gallagher with the voice of an angel won a nice big ‘Yorkie Bar’.
By the time we reached Donegal Town everyone hopped off the bus smiling and very tired after a great day out. Denis Slevin is taking names for next year to trod the route of bygone days through the hills to Brockagh. So any of you ‘Ramblers’ out there and who have not been on this walk ‘You simply don’t know what you are missing’.
Donegal Town Basketball club will hold its AGM in Pier One this Thursday (ninth Sept) at eight o’clock, and would like to invite all existing and any potential new members to attend. Last year the men’s team, under the guidance of Manus Brennan, were defeated at the semi-final stage of both the League and Cup. Hopefully, with more effort and a bit of luck, this team can reach the dizzy heights of the 1999-2000 double winning team during Nigel Weir’s reign of terror. Good luck to Nigel who is once again refereeing at National League level this year, an excellent achievement, and, to our knowledge, the only person from county Donegal to ever do so.
It’s been too long since there was a ladies team in town, hopefully that can be rectified this year. The season will kick off this year with the annual one-day blitz, taking place in Letterkenny IT’s new state of the art gym. It could provide an excellent platform from which to begin a ladies team.
Another long-term goal of the club is to begin coaching at underage level on a grander scale. Plans are afoot within the county board to begin some kind of underage competition, an age group where we have always been competitive at schools level, where the AVS teams of Paddy Muldoon, Nigel Weir, Deirdre McGrath and Stephen Carty have been extremely successful.
Finally, it is envisaged that some kind of fund-raising activity will take place this year with a view to, among other things, fixing the electronic scoreboard. All suggestions as to how to go about generating money, while having a bit of fun, will be welcomed on Thursday night. So whether you’re interested in playing (training times have yet to be finalised), spectating, or taking on an administrative role, come along on Thursday and help us kick off the new season.
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