Donegal vs Armagh
1st Round replay at Clones
Brian Mallon breaks through the defence duo of Barry Monaghan and Damien Diver.
Photo: Jason McGarrigle
A depleted twelve-man Donegal side were their own worst enemies as their poor shooting and ill-discipline helped Armagh sweep, with some comfort, into the semi-finals of the Ulster SFC with ease, after a disappointing and fractious game. Armagh had things very much their own way against an out-of-sorts Donegal side who had Eamon McGee, Brian Roper and Adrian Sweeney dismissed at various stages over the course of a bad tempered second half. In addition, Armagh also finished with less than a full team after Francie Bellew was dismissed in the third-quarter following an off-the-ball incident.
Donegal failed to score from play in the first half in front of the 18,000-plus attendance and it wasn’t until the 60th minute that a goal from Brendan Devenney marked their first score other than from frees.
Armagh’s first goal, in the fifth minute, came from Ronan Clarke - after a good pass from John McEntee - slotting home past young ‘keeper Brendan Boyle, who didn’t have a good game.
Armagh were much more cohesive in going forward, and when Ronan Clarke was fouled, Aaron Kernan stepped up to make it a 1-7 to 0-5 game at half time. Both team-managers vented their frustrations at referee Maurice Deegan as he headed for the dressing-room at the interval.
On the restart, McDonnell wasted no time and converted a free to put six points between the sides. Things just got worse from then on as the second half gathered pace. Indeed matters took a disastrous turn for Donegal very soon. Firstly, defender Eamon McGee received his second yellow card in the 45th minute and was dismissed. Then within 60 seconds, Stevie McDonnell got a great goal after running some 20 metres to collect a fisted centre from team-mate Macken.
Trailing by 0-5 to 2-8, Donegal bagged a brace of frees but the dismissal of Roper after a second yellow in the 53rd minute dashed any lingering hopes. This was further confirmed after a terrible kickout by Boyle - straight to McDonnell, whose attempt came back off the butt of the Donegal post only for Malachy Macken to pounce and kick the ball home.
Brendan Devenney crashed the ball to the net with ten minutes to go to leave seven points between the sides, 3-9 to 1-8 and then only a brilliant save from Michael Boyle prevented McDonnell notching his second goal five minutes from time. The final score was Armagh 3-11 - Donegal 1-10.
Donegal now have a tricky visit to Aughrim to play Wicklow in the qualifiers this Sunday.
Donegal Town & District Finn Harps Supporters Club
The Donegal Town and District Finn Harps Supporters club recently presented a €2,400 cheque to the Donegal Cancer Support Group, the proceeds of the recent charity match. Once again we would like to thank everyone for the help in raising money for this very deserving cause.
Well it’s tough times at Finn Park. With results not going our way, we find ourselves at the wrong end of the table. On a brighter note we do have a cup run to look forward to, after a late Kevin McHugh goal gave Harps a 1-0 win away to Kilkenny City in the second round. With the draw for the last 16 of the FAI cup due to take place on the 27th June, Harps will be looking for a favourable draw, to help the chances of progressing to the quarterfinals of the competition. Last Saturday, Harps took on Waterford United in the league in Finn Park, and a goal apiece from Kevin McHugh and Eloka Askuh in the first half was enough to seal Harps second league victory and lift them off the bottom of the table. Harps played well and Waterford never troubled them - so let’s hope it’s a sign of things to come.
Off the field, the club have managed to find a main sponsor after a draw was held for the sponsorship rights to the team. There were 121 entries for the draw and it was won by the Blaney Group (Milford Inn). The draw is worth around €30,000 to the club. Although this sum is down on last season’s figure, it will still go a long way to helping the finances at the club. So well done to the Blaney group, and all involved with organising and running the draw.
Congratulations to Tom McMenamin who won our draw for a Finn Harps season ticket at the last Supporters Club meeting - we know Tom will put the prize to good use. For any information on the Supporters Club contact 0861223507 - or talk to any member of the club.
Naill Martin
Ladies Golf Results from Murvagh
Recent results
Carmel Garvey had been warming up for a win and came through in the Harbour Restaurant Competition. Well done Carmel! 1st: C Garvey (24) 37pts BOT,
2nd: G McGarrigle (29) 37 pts BOT, 3rd: M Walsh (21) 34 pts, 4th: S Kane (36) 33 pts 5th: M Connolly (15) 32 pts BOT 6th A McGlynn (22) 32 pts BOT, Gross: A Colhoun (19). 1st 9: K Fox (20) 17 pts BOT 2nd 9: B Mullooly (28) 17 pts BOT
Darragh McGowan was setting the pace with a great score of 39 pts in the Mill Park Comp. 1st: D McGowan (3) 39pts, 2nd: A Colhoun (19) 37 pts, 3rd: M Hand (22) 36 pts, 4th: A McGlynn (23) 35 pts, 5th: M McLaughlin (19) 34 pts, Gross: M Gartland (8) 25 pts, 1st 9: U Anderson (28) 17 pts BOT, 2nd 9: M Cassidy (31) 18pts BOT
Geraldine Mc Garrigle continues on good form as she scooped the top spot this week in the first La Bella Donna Competition. 1st: G McGarrigle (27) 74, 2nd: U Miller (20) 76, 3rd: M Gallagher (24) 78, 4th: M Talbot: (18) 79,
5th: D Woods (12) 80, Gross E MacMullen (5) 87, 1st 9: M Ward (23) 38.5, 2nd 9: A Colhoun (19) 36.5. 9 hole: 1st M Gillespie (36) 41, 2nd: M Canney (36) 44 net
Recent winners in the Wednesday 9 hole Competition were Ann Murray, Sylvia Arkinson and Eilish Duffy. This will resume on 22 June at 6:30.
Next Saturday 25th June is Captain’s Day (Mr. Padraig Farragher) and the Captain is holding a 9-hole Competition in the afternoon for the Ladies. Consult the timesheet for available times.
The Little Bullet is being played in Bundoran on Wednesday 29th June. Timesheet in operation, ring Bundoran GC.
Ladies Connaght Championships
The Ladies Connaght Championships were held at Donegal Golf Club 7th - 9th June. Overall winner was Shauna McVeigh (Royal Co. Down)with runner up Brenda McLaren (Ft. William)
The other semi finalists were Darragh McGowan (Donegal G.C.) and Nikki Taggart (Belvoir Park). The Junior section was won by Angela Cullinan (Lahinch) and runner up was Mary Conefrey (Co. Sligo). Intermediate Cup was won by Nikki Taggart. The prizes were awarded by the ILGU Western District Chairwoman, Mary McGuigan. Many thanks to our own Bernie Tracey, ILGU Western District member who was instumental in the smooth running of the event. Thanks must also go to Maire O’Donnell for her assistance and guidance!
Drumbar U12s have finished the season with their best record in recent years. Last Tuesday they lifted the South Donegal Schoolboys’ Cup after an exciting match in the final against Copany Rovers. The first half was a close encounter with two point blank saves by the Drumbar keeper, Gary Bushel. The deadlock was broken ten minutes from the end of the match with a confident shot from Stephen Quinn, having kept a cool head in the build up. The game was far from over. Copany fought hard for the equaliser but Drumbar wrapped the game up with three minutes to go with a great diagonal strike from Darragh McMenamin. The final score of 2-0 belied the closely fought contest and thanks to Copany for a great match. Drumbar U12s end the season with a run of eight consecutive wins finishing second in the South Donegal Schoolboys league. Congratulations and well done to managers Rory O’Donnell and Danny McMenamin.
It’s that time of year again! Some would say summer officially starts when Inter-firms competition begins at Drumbar. Thirty-two teams will be in action and I have no doubt that it will be a super competition for all concerned. We thank our sponsors The National Bar (cup) and L.F. Tool Hire (shield), and all pubs and firms that have entered teams. This year the club has included a ladies competition, to date we have three teams entered, The National Bar, Laghy Waste and The Forge Bar. Ladies it’s not too late to enter a team yet as this competition won’t commence until week of June 27th. So forget about the Confederation Cup on T.V. and make your way to the hallowed grounds of Drumbar to cheer on our local stars – especially those in the ‘not so young’ category.
New pitch development
Our contractor is ready and waiting for a period of dry settled weather to commence drainage and then sowing of pitch.
The club’s U16 management team had a meeting with a view to organising friendly matches in the coming weeks. This team won the double at U14 level and the management have no doubt that the other clubs in the school-boys league will be making an all out effort to prevent this happening at this age group.
The club committee had a meeting with the senior management and a number of players. The chairman, Eamonn Brogan, congratulated Neil Thomas and Aidan Cassidy on finishing fourth in the league and narrowly missing out on promotion. A discussion took place on how to improve the senior squad next season. All agreed that we have a pool of good young players coming through and that they should be entered sooner into the squad when senior players are not available due to work and college commitments. The future looks good for our senior squad.
The club would like to thank Donegal Town Credit Union and Redbridge Developments for sponsoring bill-boards on the pitch.
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