McGee-Cronnolly stars as Setanta overcome MacCumhaills

Josh McGee-Cronnolly was the star of the show as he bagged 4-2 as Setanta scored a pretty comprehensive victory over Sean MacCumhaills in a Finn Valley derby at Crossroads in the Donegal Hurling League on Friday night.

Setanta 4-17 Sean MacCumhaill’s 0-14

The strongly built full-forward had a hat trick in the opening half and was a constant menace to the under-pressure MacCumhaill’s defence.

Setanta were minus all of their county players with the exception of Sean Ward and Dean Harvey, but they still had far too much power and panache for the visitors.

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Setanta led 3-12 to 0-6 at half-time with the hosts scoring 1-5 in the second half.

For MacCumhaill’s PJ Browne, Dylan Lafferty and ex Donegal player Lee Henderson had their moments, but were no match for a Setanta side who have real strength in depth.

Harvey got the home side off the mark with a nippy point after two minutes and McGee-Cronnolly got a point and two lightning goals in three minutes to make a real statement.

Niall Cleary and Sean Ward sent in two probing balls and the full-forward turned his marker to hammer smartly to the net.

Setanta were 2-6 to 0-3 ahead after just 15 minutes and McGee-Cronolly found the net again to leave them cruising at the interval.

The Setanta scoring dropped in the second half, although Ryan Callaghan, Justin McBride and Mark Callaghan landed points with McGee-Cronnolly weighing in with another goal.

Setanta scorers: Josh McGee-Cronnolly 4-2; Niall Cleary, Sean Ward, Justin McBride 0-3 each; Dean Harvey, Mark Callaghan 0-2 each; Travis Lafferty, Ryan Callaghan 0-1 each.

Sean MacCumhaill’s scorers: Lee Henderson 0-7,5f; PJ Browne 0-4f; Dylan Lafferty 0-3.

Setanta: Mark Kane; Tommy Lee Scully, Ruairi McLaughlin, Denim Rowan; Conor McGettigan, Mark Callaghan, Justin McBride; Ryan Callaghan, Dean Harvey; Conor Gallen, Niall Cleary, Sean Ward; Travis Lafferty, Josh McGee-Cronnolly, Colm Melaugh. Subs: Caolan McClintock and Tiernan Farren for Scully and Ward (half-time) Anthony Dillon for McBride (44) Simon McMenamin for McGettigan (47), Pauric Moss for Lafferty (53).

Sean MacCumhaill's: Ger Cunningham, Eoghan Wright, Lee Henderson, Kyle Tourish; Dean Hannigan, Conor Griffin, Pete Byrne; Fintan Smith, PJ Browne, John Anthony Chambers; Orin McDermott, Conor Murphy, Aurelio Freires, Dylan Laverty, Shane McMenamin. Sub: Aaron Tony for Freires (half-time)