Donegal Under-20 hurlers beaten after first-half goal blitz by Derry

The scoreline might suggest that Donegal put up some reasonable resistance to a much superior Derry side at a chilly Convoy on Friday night.

But the reality was much different, as this game was effectively over at the break when a rampant Derry side led by 5-7 to 1-1 at half-time.

Derry ran their considerable bench, and Donegal actually won the second half by 0-11 to 0-5, mainly thanks to an impressive display of accuracy from Brendan Gaffey, who accounted for 1-10 of his side’s total score.

But Derry did all the damage in the opening half, mainly through the excellent Cormac Óg McCloskey, Ruairi Biggs and Caolan Connery.

McCloskey opened the scoring from a free, and Biggs added a well-taken goal after five minutes.

Kyron McColgan replied for Donegal in the eighth minute but the accurate McCloskey and Brendan Bradley pushed Derry to a 1-4 to 0-1 lead by the 10th minute.

But this game was effectively killed off in the next ten minutes when McCloskey goaled, and two more green flags were raised by Caolan Connery as Derry eased into a 4-6 to 0-1 lead by the 20th minute.

Cathal Quinn hit another goal before Donegal marksman Brendan Gaffey blasted a 20- metre free to the Derry net as PJ Glover responded with a point and Derry led by 5-7 to 1-1 at the break.

A plethora of Derry subs were thrown on at the resumption, which made for a much more equal contest on the restart.

McCloskey and substitute Felix Glover pushed Derry to a 5-9 to 1-2 lead as Gaffey landed a long-range effort.

Donegal midfielder Fionn Farren had a much-improved second half as his side turned this into a bit of a contest, and he struck a fine point.

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Gaffey landed a fine point, which made it 5-10 to 1-5 by the 40th minute, and he added seven more points, some from quite a distance.

Ryan McGilligan hit a brace of points for the winners, who looked a very impressive side when they had their full team on in the opening half.

Apart from Gaffey, who hit some fine scores, Aidan McKinney, Conor Diver and Shay Bradley battled hard against a much physically stronger and skilful Derry.

And Donegal lost sub Dara Galvin to a red card for a loose challenge on a Derry player.

Donegal scorers: Brendan Gaffey 1-10f; Kyron McColgan 0-1; Fionn Farren 0-1.

Derry scorers: Cormac Óg McClokey 1-3,2f; Ruairi Biggs 1-2; Caolan Connery 2-0; Cathal Quinn 1-0; Felix Glover 0-2; Ryan McGilligan 0-2f; P J Glover 0-1; Brendan Bradley 0-1; Paul McNicholl 0-1f;

Donegal: Killian Hirrell; Oran Lafferty, Shane Ellison, Odhran Murphy; Caolan O’Raghaillaigh, Aidan McKinney, Shay Bradley; Fionn Farren, Sean Brady Devenney; Conal Herron, Brendan Gaffey, Deny McColgan; Eoin McDaid, Oisin Diver, Kyron McColgan.

Subs: Daithi Sheerin and Pauric Kelly (24), Fiachra Gill (h-time), Dara Galvin (45), Davitt Bradley Flynn (54).

Derry: Caomhan Irwin; Declan Kelly, Michael Doyle Kennedy, Declan McNamee; Caolan Gallagher, Emmet Óg McKeever, Finn Óg Diamond; Paul McNicholl, Brendan Bradley; Ben McCullagh, Ruairi Biggs, Cathal Quinn; P J Glover, Caolan Connery, Cormac Óg McCloskey.

Subs: Kevin Barry Mullan, Darragh Kelly, JP Leaden, Felix Glover, Ryan McGilligan, Sean Walls, Cathal Friel (ht), Cian Kennedy (43), Dara O’Loughlin and Owen O’Neill (48).

Referee: James Clarke (Cavan)