Conlon the hero for Malin in a hard fought victory over Bundoran

Josh Conlon was the toast of the Inishowen town  on Sunday afternoon with a brace of goals in the final couple of minutes to give his side a precious win in their final group game in this year's Donegal Intermediate Championship. 

Bundoran had led for the majority of the second half until Conlon's excellent first goal levelled matters with five minutes to go and he was on hand again to claim victory for his side as the game entered injury time. 

Malin registered their first score of the match on three mins when Conlon hit an excellent 2 pointer. Peter McGonigle halved the deficit on seven mins but the two point margin was restored when Realt na Mara's goalkeeper Conor Carty was penalised for slow play on 10 mins. Things could have got even worse for the homeside from the next attack as Ciaran O’Kane’s goalbound effort narrowly missed the target. The Seasiders then settled themselves and an excellent score from corner back Lee Smyth was soon added to by McGonigle. 

Christopher McLaughlin edged his side back in front and then his midfield colleague O’Kane hit a fine 2 pointer to make it a three point  game at the midway stage. 

A soft free awarded to Ryan Barrett resulted in an easy score for Gary Clancy and the same player split the posts twice in quick succession to leave the sides level on 22 mins. Both sides were wasteful over the next few minutes before a wonderful curling effort from O’Kane just crept inside the posts to give the visitors a two point advantage at halftime, Realt na Mara 0-06 Malin 0-08

A bright opening to the second half saw veteran Bundoran defender Shane McGowan make an excellent run in behind the Malin rearguard to pop over a fine point. A point from a free by midfielder McLaughlin restored the half-time lead on 33 mins. The home side then hit a purple patch with half-time substitute Cian McEniff and Jamie Brennan both hitting 2 pointers to give them a 0-11 to 0-09 lead. Oisin McGonigle and Clancy exchanged scores but Malin's point came after O’Kane had crashed a piledriver off the Bundoran crossbar. 

Kyle McNulty hit a fine score at the midway point of the second half and the home side pushed their advantage out to three points when full-back Johnny Boyle played a one-two with Darragh Hoey to find the range on 19 mins.

Malin showed their resolve though  and hit the next two scores, another from McLaughlin and a fine effort from corner forward Sean O’Neill. 

The visitors had a major let-off from the next passage of play when a poor kick out sent Gary Clancy on his way but his effort was off target with the goal at his mercy.

Cian McEniff put two points between the sides with a brilliant team score with seven minutes remaining. 

Another Clancy free from a Malin breach  of the 3 up rule had the home team looking comfortable with six minutes remaining. 

But the visitors had other ideas and a brilliant individual piece of skill from Josh Conlon saw him evade two Bundoran defenders to slip the ball past Conor Carty to level the game with five to go.

Both teams knew that with time running out the next score would be vital. Josh Conlon found himself in a pocket of space but his effort for a point fell short and with Seamus Houghton  challenging Carty the ball evaded both of them straight to the net. It was an all too familiar feeling for the Realt na Mara team as they had also conceded an injury time losing score to Muff in their opening game of the championship in Gaelic Park. 

Now three points down the home team tried in vain to gain parity but the only score they could muster was a pointed free from Gary Clancy.

With favourable results elsewhere both teams are now into the quarter-finals with Malin playing their Inishowen neighbours Naomh Padraig, Uisce Chaoin and the Seasiders playing Red Hughs. 

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Realt na Mara scorers: Gary Clancy 0-6, 4f; Cian McEniff 0-3 1tp Jamie Brennan 0-2,tp; Peter McGonigle 0-2 Johnny Boyle, Lee Smyth, Kyle McNulty, Shane McGowan 0-1 each. 

Malin scorers: Josh Conlon 2-4,1tp,1f; Ciaran O Kane 0-4,2tp; Christopher McLaughlin 0-3,1f; Oisin McGonigle Sea,n O Neill 0-1 each.

Realt na Mara: Conor Carty; Pauric Roone,; Johnny Boyle, Maitiu Tierney; Matthew Ward, Ryan Barrett, Lee Smyth; Peter McGonigle, Gary Clancy; Shane Mc Gowan, Ryan McGloin, Darragh Hoey; Anton Govorov, Jamie Brennan, Kyle McNulty. 

Subs: Cian  McEniff for Ryan Barrett (ht); Callum Tierney for Pauric Rooney (50)

Malin: Daniel Mullarkey; Gary Farren, Ciaran Doherty, Daniel Green; Sean Byrne, Oisin McGonigle, Mac McLaughlin; Christopher McLaughlin, Ciaran O’Kane; Ben Curley, Josh Conlon,  Darragh Douglas; Paul McLaughlin, Seamus Houghton, Sean O Neill. 

Subs: Finn Ward for Ben Curley (hy); Cormac Cullinane for Mac McLaughlin (49);  Taylor Bonner for Paul McLaughlin (53); Luke Redden for Seamus Houghton (60+1); Ryan McGeoghegan for Josh Conlon (60+3).

Referee  Marc Brown (Four Masters).