Glenswilly far too strong for Glenfin and advance to the SFC quarter-finals  

Glenswilly strode into the SFC quarter-finals thanks to a convincing nine-point win over local rivals Glenfin in O’Donnell Park. 

Glenswilly 1-16 Glenfin 0-10 

Bar a slow start to the start of the second period, Padraig Bonner’s men were in complete control in Letterkenny and even at the break, their 1-7 to 0-2 lead already looked ominous. 

After the restart, Glenfin posted three points on the trot to trim the gap back to five. But Glenswilly once again put the pedal down and eased through the rest of the second period and into the last eight. 

Back at the outset,  Jack Gallagher strode forward from centre half back to kick the game’s opening score for Glenswilly. Soon after, Glenswilly doubled their advantage thanks to Daithi Gildea. 

On 11 minutes, a quickly taken free, from deep, by Caoimhin Marley was plucked out of the air by Michael Murphy. And shaking off the attentions of both John Harkin and Gary Herron, he just blazed over the crossbar. 

On the quarter hour mark, and with Shane McDevitt looking to add a fourth successive Glenswilly point, his undercooked strike dropped in front of the Glenfin goal allowing Donal Gallagher to flick to the back of the net. 

A Caoimhin Marley mark then made it 1-4 to no score on 18 minutes before Glenfin finally opened their account, seven minutes out from the break, when Daniel Marley lobbed over a close-range free.

Still, Glenswilly remained extremely comfortable and a Mark McAteer effort again put seven between the teams at 1-5 to 0-1. 

Two minutes removed from the short whistle, Luke McGlynn clipped his side’s second score, again from a free. 

But with Murphy booting a superb free from distance, and also adding a mark on the stroke of half-time, it was they that exited at the midpoint in complete control at 1-7 to 0-2. 

Glenfin started the second-half in purposeful fashion with Daniel Marley, twice, and Luke McGlynn shaving three off the gap to make it 1-7 to 0-5 just five minutes in. However, in between, Ross Marley was issued a black card.

Still, soon after, Oisin Crawford was also flashed a black card so Glenswilly’s numerical advantage was short-lived. Glenswilly kicked the next three points as Gary McFadden landed a free and Murphy and Caoimhin Marley also registered overs. 

A Daniel Marley free did leave it 1-10 to 0-6 but with Keelan Dunleavy and a booming Murphy ‘45 hitting the target, 1-12 led 0-6 going into the final 10 minutes. 

Luke McGlynn and Caolan Kelly traded points as eight remained the gap. Donal Gallagher, Caoimhin Marley and a Gary McFadden free then helped propel Glenswilly out to 1-16 for the day while late on Glenfin landed a consolation brace through Luke McGlynn and Ross Marely.  

Glenswilly scorers: Donal Gallagher 1-1; Jack Gallagher 0-1; Michael Murphy 0-5,1f,1m,1’45; Caoimhin Marley 0-3,1m; Daithi Gildea 0-1; Mark McAteer 0-1; Gary McFadden 0-2,2f; Keelan Dunleavy 0-1; Caolan Kelly 0-1. 

Glenfin scorers: Luke McGlynn 0-4,2f; Daniel Marley 0-4,3f; Ross Marley 0-1; Shaun Ward 0-1,1f.  

Glenswilly: Keelan McFadden; Jake Kelly, Mark McAteer; Caolan Kelly; Donal Gallagher, Jack Gallagher, Shane McDaid; Shaun Wogan, Caoimhin Marley; Daithi Gildea (Mark Bonner, 55), Shane McDevitt, Keelan Dunleavy; Gary McFadden, Michael Murphy, Oisin Crawford (Sean Collum, 48). 

Glenfin: Andrew Walsh; Martin O’Donnell, John Harkin, Gary Herron (Ciaran Brady,ht); Ross Marley, Mark McGinty, Jack Long; Stephen Ward (Aaron McGlynn, 43), Shaun Ward; Odhran McGlynn, Frank McGlynn, Jason Morrow (Gerard Ward, 48); Daniel Marely, Luke McGlynn, Daniel McGlynn (Shane McGinty, 54). 

Referee: Robbie O’Donnell (Naomh Muire).