Donegal annihilate Fermanagh to make it two from two in NHL Division 3 

Donegal absolutely pummelled a poor Fermanagh outfit by a massive 32 points in Letterkenny to maintain a perfect start to their NHL Division 3 season. 

Mickey McCann’s side opened with a brilliant away win in Tyrone last weekend and they completely dominated the first-half in O’Donnell Park to exit 0-19 to 0-2 to the good. 

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The second-half was more of the same and two goals from substitute Ronan McDermott and the impressive John Kealy sealed an emphatic victory for the home charges. 

Gerard Gilmore - who top scored on the day with 12 points - got that scoring avalanche underway inside the first minute as he landed from a free. 

Kealy quickly followed that up while a Declan Coulter ping from distance made it 3-0 just six minutes in. 

Gilmore would smack a post from a 55m free but would soon add his second as the one-way traffic continued on the scoreboard. 

Passing the ten-minute mark and Donegal would go five clear as Gilmore again posted from a free. 

From the resulting puckout, Liam McKinney fielded and sent the sliotar back where it came from, but with a little interest, and the deficit widened to a half frozen. 

Kealy would add his second, approaching the quartet hour mark while McKinney would also double his own personal tally soon after to leave it 0-8 to no score. 

A nasty collision involving Gavin Browne from the hosts and Daniel Teague for the visitors then resulted in the Donegal wingback being unable to continue. 

To compound Browne’s misery, the referee for some reason flashed him a needless yellow card as he was helped from the field. 

Still, Donegal continued to dominate as Richie Ryan and Gilmore, from another free, moved Donegal into double figures. 

Gilmore, following McKinney’s earlier lead, also plucked a stray Erne dispatch, and he added his fifth on 26 minutes. 

Conor Diver increased Donegal’s lead just before Fermanagh finally broke their duck 28 minutes in through Eamon Magee. 

But the home side continued to turn the screw nearing the half hour mark as Conor Gartland and Kealy left it 0-14 to 0-1. 

Before the break, Richie Ryan, Ryan Hilferty, Conor Diver and Coulter all registered, while, in between, the visitors doubled their lonely tally thanks to a Daniel Teague free. 

Fermanagh did improve somewhat on the restart, scoring-wise at least but, unfortunately for them, so too did Donegal as two second-half goals left this one completely lopsided. 

Home replacement McDemottt and Kealy would nail the net for Donegal while ace score-getter Gilmore would add a further seven points to round off his own afternoon in some style.

Fermanagh did grab the first point on the resumption through Danaan McKeogh but nine on the bounce from Donegal left it 0-28 to 0-3 by the 54th minute. 

Magee did manage to string back-to-back points for Fermanagh to trim the gap somewhat, to 22. 

However, McDermott would ram in the first of that brace of three-pointers as the away outfit continued to struggle. 

Before the end, Kealy lifted a second green flag and the only real blotch on Donegal’s copybook in this mismatch was the dismissal of Josh Cronolly McGee late on as both sides had got involved along the endline of the far sideline. 

Donegal scorers: Gerad Gilmore 0-12, 9f; John Kealy 1-5; Liam McKinney 0-4; Ronan McDermott 1-0; Peter Kelly 0-3; Richie Ryan, Declan Coulter and Conor Diver 0-2 each; Ryan Hilferty, Conor Gartland, Russell Forde, Danny Cullen and Josh Cronolly McGee  0-1 each. 

Fermanagh scorers: Danaan McKeogh 0-2,1f; Eamon Magee 0-3; Daniel Teague 0-1,1f; Caolan Duffy, Sean Corrigan and Thomas Burns 0-1 each.  

Donegal: Luke White; Oisin Kelly, Ciaran Bradley, Donal Farrelly; Ryan Hilferty, Gerard Gilmore, Gavin Browne; Liam McKinney, Conor Gartland; Conor Diver, Kevin Kealy, Richie Ryan; John Kealy, Peter Kelly, Declan Coulter. 

Subs: Danny Cullen for Browne (19, inj), Ronan McDermott for Gartland and Dylan Lafferty for White (both ht), Josh Cronolly McGee for Ryan (45); Russell Forde for Coulter (53); Peter Grant for Hilferty (59)

Fermanagh: Mark Slevin; Ben Corrigan, Caoimhin Heaney, Ciaran Duffy; Ronan McGurn, Daniel Teague, Thomas Burns; Caolan Duffy, Odhran Johnston; Danaan McKeogh, Eamon McGee, Cahir McManus; Sean Corrigan, Fergal Deery, Jimmy Tormey. 

Subs: Tom Keenan for Corrigan (34), Eoin Cleary for McManus (43), Darragh Flanaghan and Seamus Cleary for Johnston and Deery (both 66); Padraig Johnston for McGurn (69).

Referee: Derek Argue (Cavan).