Donegal secure vital Christy Ring win away to Tyrone in Carrickmore

Donegal have put Tyrone to the sword in the Christy Ring Cup - recording their biggest ever victory over their Ulster neighbours in living memory with a dominant performance in Carrick.

Josh Cronolly McGee, Declan Coulter and Luke White all found the net in a one-sided encounter, with full-forward Cronolly McGee helping himself to a hat-trick with two of those coming in the opening ten minutes as Donegal got off to a flying start.

With early green flags from Cronolly McGee and points from Gerard Gilmore and Coulter, Donegal raced into a 2-3 to 0-1 lead.

Tyrone briefly rallied, reeling off five unanswered points through Rory Weir and Sean Duffin, to cut the deficit to three at the end of the first quarter.

However, Donegal soon reasserted control, with scores from Coulter, Ryan Hilferty, Liam McKinney, Ronan McDermott, Gilmore and White pushing the visitors into a commanding 3-7 to 0-7 lead at half-time.

Three quick points after the restart stretched the advantage to 14, and Mickey McCann’s side cruised through the second half, outscoring Tyrone 1-5 to 0-2 in the closing stages as the contest fizzled out.

Donegal now face London at home in two weeks, followed by a trip to Meath seven days later. 

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If they could pick up a pair of wins, and depending on other results, they could yet reach the Christy Ring Cup final.

At a minimum, they will need one more win to guarantee Christy Ring status for next season.

Donegal scorers: Josh Cronolly McGee 3-2; Declan Coulter 1-5; Luke White 1-2 1P, 2f; Gerard Gilmore 0-4, 3f; Liam McKinney 0-2; Ronan McDermott, Brian Óg McIntyre, Ryan Hilferty 0-1 each.

Tyrone scorers: Sean Duffin 0-5, 4f; Rory Weir 0-3; Michael Little and Lorcan Devlin 0-1 each.

Donegal: Luke White; Oisín Kelly, Stephen McBride, Jack O’Loughlin; Conor O’Grady, Danny Cullen, Ryan Hilferty; Seán McVeigh, Liam McKinney; Brian McIntyre, Gerard Gilmore, Declan Coulter; Ronan McDermott, Josh Cronolly McGee, Peter Kelly.

Subs: Gavin Browne for J. O’Loughlin (20); Seán Ward for L. McKinney (53).

Tyrone: Conor McElhatton; Dean Rafferty, Oran McKee, Ronan Molloy; Lorcan Devlin, Cormac Munroe, Fionn Devlin; James McCann, Seamus Sweeney; Aidan Woods, Seán Devlin, Branan Molloy; Rory Weir, Kiefer Morgan, Ciarán McGill.Subs: Conal McKee for O. McKee (43); Michael Little for S. Sweeney (60); Mark McCann for K. Morgan (69).

Referee: Ciarán O’Regan (Cork)