Setanta class bubbles to the surface as St Eunan’s put to the sword 

In hurling, there is no substitute for class - those wristy flicks and feints that separate artists from artisans. 

Setantac 4-13 St Eunan's 0-14 

And in an exceptionally talented Setanta team, the scintillating finishing quality of their full-forwards Gerard Gilmore and Ruairi Campbell made this a memorable evening for the men from the Cross, who took their 18th Munster in clinical style before a huge crowd in O’Donnell Park. 

Gilmore hit a stunning goal after just 11 minutes and made another, which was a huge moment just before half-time to push Setanta into a 2-7 to 0-7 lead at the break. 

But even though St Eunan’s narrowed the gap to a goal ten minutes into the second-half, the exceptionally gifted Campbell struck for two goals in the space of three minutes to effectively seal the deal after just 45 minutes as Setanta jumped into a 4-8 to 0-11 lead.  

The last quarter was painful for a battling Eunan’s side who never gave up, but those quality, killer goals sucked all their energy and they were a well-beaten side at the finish. 

Setanta have now won four of the last six county titles but will now have to wait 12 weeks until their Ulster Intermediate club tie - a delay that Setanta mentor Gary McGettigan described as “disgraceful.”      

The game took off at a frenetic pace when Gerard Gilmore, who came into this contest with a championship tally of 8-51, found Danny Cullen with a clever pass and Cullen put his side in the lead after just 32 seconds. 

Play swung from end to end with Conor O’Grady levelling matters with a flashing point from distance in the third minute. 

Gerard Gilmore pointed a free in the fourth minute as did Declan Coulter in the sixth, from 80 metres, to put the Finn Valley men into a 0-3 to 0-1 lead. 

But St Eunan’s hit back with a superb long-range point from Sean McVeigh, which was quickly negated by another point from Cullen. 

Daire Ó Maoileidigh then landed a tricky free from the sideline to level matters. Bernard Lafferty put Setanta back in front before a moment of Gilmore magic put daylight between the sides for the first time. 

A long ball over the top deceived the Eunan’s defence and Gilmore fielded in space before rifling the sliotar to the roof of the net. 

Lafferty added another point and suddenly Setanta were ahead by 1-5 to 0-4 in the 18th minute. 

Ó Maoileidigh hit back with a point for Eunan’s as did Kevin Kealy to leave just a point between the sides. 

The inevitable Gilmore added another point before we had a huge moment in the game. Eunan’s were having severe problems with Gilmore, who hit an unbelievable overhead pass to Oisin Marley who took a shot but was held back and referee Trevor Moloney had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. 

Veteran Coulter hit the sliotar so hard it is doubtful if Eunan’s keeper Cian Hennessy even saw it as it sped to the net to leave Setanta with a very healthy 2-6 to 0-7 half-time lead. 

Marley opened the scoring in Act Two for Setanta with a quick point to which Ó Maoileidigh replied in kind. 

Russell Forde and Gilmore then swapped points as the rain fell and conditions got tricky leading to a schemozzle that lasted for three minutes. 

But it still had the makings of a big battle and Eunan’s were roared on by their big support as the lead was cut to three points. 

And then all changed utterly when a long ball was fielded by Campbell who calmly batted the ball to the Eunan’s net in the 40th minute to put Setanta into a 3-8 to 0-11 lead. 

But Campbell firmly closed the door a few minutes later when he grabbed a similar ball and showed great composure in first timing it into the Eunan’s goal. 

Setanta were leading by 4-8 to 0-11 at that stage and there was simply no way back for Eunan’s. 

Ó Maoileidigh had another pointed free but Marley replied for the leaders. The final quarter seemed the longest, as Setanta calmly managed the game out. 

But the emotional scenes that greeted this victory showed just how much winning county titles means to Donegal’s only standalone hurling club. 

However Eunan’s, who comfortably won the JHC title by 2-13 to 2-8 against Burt, have time on their side. 

Setanta scorers: Gerry Gilmore 1-6,6f; Ruairi Campbell 2-0; Declan Coulter 1-1, 1Pen; Danny Cullen 0-2; Bernard Lafferty 0-2; Oisin Marley 0-1; Sean Ward 0-1; 

St Eunan’s scorers: Daire Ó Maoileidigh 0-9,8f; Conor O’Grady 0-1; Sean McVeigh 0-1; Kevin Kealy 0-1; Russell Forde 0-1; Peter Kelly 0-1.   

Setanta: Kevin Campbell; Conor McGettigan, Stephen McBride, Mark Callaghan; Ryan Coyle, Bernard Lafferty, Niall Cleary; Declan Coulter, Dean Harvey; Josh McGee/Cronolly, Danny Cullen, Sean Ward; Oisin Marley Gerry Gilmore, Ruairi Campbell. 

Subs; Conor Gallen for Josh McGee/Cronolly (52), Justin McBride for Niall Cleary (54), Denim Rowan for Conor McGettigan (59), Colm Melaugh for Declan Coulter (60), Tiarnan McConnell for Ryan Coyle (61). 

St Eunan’s: Cian Hennessy; Sean Halvey, Conor McVeigh, Lorcan Heavey; Conor O’Grady, Sean McVeigh, Ryan Hilferty; Brian MacIntyre, Cormac Finn; Daire Ó ’Maoileidigh, Kevin Kealy, Matt Ahern; Peter Kelly, Fearghal Delaney, Russell Forde. 

Subs; Conor Neely for Conor McVeigh (39), David Horgan for Russell Forde (50), Gavin Forde for Cormac Finn (58) 

Referee: Trevor Moloney (Buncana)