Dungloe come good in second half to overcome Malin in U-18 Division 2 final

Dungloe were five point winners over Malin in the Under-18 Division 2 County final in Convoy on Friday evening.

Dungloe 1-8 Malin 0-6

The sides were level at the interval but Laurence McDaid’s young outfit produced a flawless second half performance to bring the division 2 cup back to Dungloe.

Malin got this contest off to a blistering start with a superb point from midfielder Ciaran O’Kane after just 20 seconds.

Dungloe however responded with scores of their own immediately, scoring 1-1 within a minute to open up a three point lead early on.

This commenced with a good score from Luke Clerkin before the three pointer arrived. A driving run was made by Dan Kerr through the heart of the Malin defence and he found Ethan McClafferty who slotted the ball low past Zack Conlon in the Malin net.

Malin replied well to this early setback though and kicked over three consecutive scores all from the boot of the impressive Ryan McGeoghegan.

The first of these was a fine score from the right-hand side of the pitch and was soon followed by a well-struck 45’ on the 10 minute mark. On 15 minutes, McGeoghegan fired over his third after regaining his balance after being knocked and slotted it between the posts to leave the sides level.

The second quarter of this meeting was evenly poised with opportunities arising for both teams but the two defensive units were terrific and denied a number of scoring with a number of tackles and blocks to leave the sides all-square at the break at 1-1-0-4.

The boys in red came out after the interval and began the half second stanza strongly. They kicked over the game’s first point in 17 minutes with a score through Aaron Neely put his side back in front.

This was followed by a fine score from Kian McGee three minutes later as the Dungloe skipper turned superbly and fired over from distance to increase the cushion to two.

On the 40 minute mark, corner forward Oran Gallagher struck over a placed ball to push Laurence McDaid’s side’s cushion to three points.

The next four scores of the Division 2 showpiece were traded two apiece, with Ryan McGeoghan firing over two great scores for Malin and Luke Clerkin and Danny McCready finding the target for Dungloe to leave the black and amber men still three points in arrears entering the final quarter.

In the final 15 minutes however, Dungloe managed their lead well, defending excellently and took their chances when presented to increase the gap.

On 55 minutes, Cianan McDaid fielded a long high ball and made no mistake in slotting it over the bar to leave two clear scores between the sides for the first time.

A couple of minutes later they found another as Luke Clerkin found the run of Micheal O’Donnell and he fired between the sides to leave the outcome beyond doubt.

Referee Val Murray soon called an end to proceedings to the joy of the Dungloe faithful.

Dungloe scorers: Ethan McClafferty 1-0, Luke Clerkin 0-2, Kian McGee 0-1, Danny McCready 0-1, Oran Gallagher 0-1, Cianan McDaid 0-1, Micheal Gallagher 0-1, Aaron Neely 0-1.

Malin scorers: Ryan McGeoghegan 0-5,0-1f, 0-1 45’, Ciaran O’Kane 0-1

Dungloe: Cormac Hanlon; Aidan McGee, Joe McElroy, Joe Neely; Micheal Houston, Dan Kerr, Patrick O’Donnell; Luke Clerkin, Cian McGee; Aaron Neely, Micheal O’Donnell, Dylan O’Donnell; Oran Gallagher, Ethan McCafferty, Cianan McDaid.
Subs: Ryan Grannell for Houston (Ht), Danny McCready for D O’Donnell (37), Killian Gillespie for Gallagher (59).

Malin: Zack Conlon; Lewis Kelly, Mac McLaughlin, Euan McFeeley; Jamie McDevitt, Dylan Liza, Tiernan McGeoghegan; Sonny Bonner, Ciaran O’Kane; Ryan McGeoghegan, Aiden Doherty, Thomas McGeoghegan; Jack Lafferty, Nathan McDaid, Conor McCallion.
Subs: Conor McLaughlin for Kelly (34), Billy Hume for T McGeoghegan (49), Odhran Douglas for McDevitt (50), Conor McColgan for Lafferty (61).

Referee: Val Murray (Aodh Ruadh).