Ciaran Matthewson excels as MacCumhaills hurlers emphatically put Dungloe to sword 

MacCumhaills had far too much firepower for Dungloe in a convincing SHL encounter at Railway Park on Friday evening. 

This was a resounding win for the Twin Towns side, who showed attacking firepower, defensive solidity and a number of impressive senior debuts against a 13-man Rosses outfit.

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The winners were on top from the off, with young Dylan Patton and the returning Ciaran Matthewson hitting early points, while the latter also netted after just five minutes.

MacCumhaills’ ability to break at pace proved too much for the visitors, as the home side surged into a 2-7 to 0-2 lead by the 15th minute, with Patton central to everything good in attack in what was an outstanding senior debut.

It was a proud moment for the family when Dylan’s dad, Anthony Patton, came on and also found the net.

Lee Henderson and Dean Hannigan kept the scoreboard ticking over, with Matthewson and Henderson notching two more goals to leave the home side leading 4-11 to 0-2 at the break.

Brendan Boyle responded with two points for the visitors, but they were outgunned throughout.

Anthony Patton found the net again on the restart, with Matthewson hitting a sharp 1-2.

John Chambers, Bernard McMenamin, Jamie Fallon and others contributed as the winners maintained their relentless tempo.

Odhran Mulligan and Fintan O’Toole hit points for Dungloe, but they were kept largely at bay by a disciplined MacCumhaills defence.

Dylan Patton had the last score, capping a great debut that also saw strong displays from fellow debutants Lorcan Byrne, Patrick McElhinney, Liam Gallen and Jamie Fallon.

Sean MacCumhaills scorers: Ciaran Matthewson 3-7, 1f; Anthony Patton 2-2; Lee Henderson 1-2; Dylan Patton 0-5; John Chambers 0-2; David Curran, P.J. Browne, Dean Hannigan, Bernard McMenamin and Jamie Fallon 0-1 each.

Dungloe scorers: Brendan Boyle 0-2, 2f; Odhran Mulligan 0-2, 1f; Fintan O’Toole 0-1, 1f.

Sean MacCumhaills: Dylan Lafferty; Davitt Bradley Flynn, Aaron Toner, Patrick McElhinney; Christopher Gallagher, Lorcan Byrne, John Chambers; P.J. Browne, David Curran; Dylan Patton, Lee Henderson, Ciaran Matthewson; Dean Hannigan, Rory Doherty, Liam Gallen.

Subs: Anthony Patton for David Curran; Rory Doherty for P.J. Browne; Liam Gallen for Dean Hannigan; Dean Hannigan for John Chambers.

Dungloe: Evan McFadden; Tristan Boyle, Ronan Mulligan, James O’Donnell; Fintan O’Toole, Brendan Boyle, Darragh Patterson; Michael Howle, Aidan Hunter; Cormac Hanlon, Eanna O’Croinin, Odhran Mulligan, Scott Lynch.

Referee: Aiden McAleer (Naomh Padraig, Uisce Chaoin)