Dungloe come from behind to defeat Glenfin and reach U-21B semi-final

Dungloe recorded a narrow one point victory over Glenfin on a cold and frosty night in Convoy on Friday evening to qualify for the semi-final of the U-21B championship.
Dungloe 1-10   Glenfin 1-9

Glenfin led the contest by three points at the half-time break. However, a strong period midway through the second half, scoring 1-3 without reply, helped Dungloe towards victory. 

Glenfin got off to a brilliant start in this encounter, finding the back of the net just three minutes in. A venomous shot from Luke McGlynn was saved well by Damien McGowan but Gavin McCormack was on hand to hit the rebound home. 

Luke McGlynn followed this up by sticking over a seventh minute free before Dungloe got themselves on the scoreboard thanks to a great point from centre half-back Karl Magee. 

This was quickly canceled out however, as moments later Shaun Ward kicked over a great point to restore his sides four point lead. 

The Rosses Park men responded well though. A 14th minute free from Ryan Brennan was soon followed by a fine point from Jordan Saville to cut the deficit to just two on the quarter hour mark. 

Once again though, Glenfin managed to restore their four point cushion courtesy of two points in quick succession from Luke McGlynn and Daire Quigley. 

The Dungloe men continued to battle and again found joy in attack and slotted over two consecutive points, firstly through midfielder Cian McGee and soon followed by Oran Gallagher. 

Luke McGlynn fired over from a tough angle with the first half’s final play to leave the Pairc Tabhoige outfit ahead by three points at the break. 

Glenfin U-21s pictured before the game

The opening minutes of the second stanza were finely poised with the two sides exchanging placed balls. 

Luke McGlynn kicked over a 34th minute free for Glenfin before Oran Gallagher struck over his second of the game with a fine mark just a minute later. 

In the 40th minute, Dungloe leveled the contest for the first time after they found the back of the net.

 A ‘45’ from goalkeeper Damien McGowan dropped dangerously into the square and it was flicked home by Ryan Brennan. 

Dungloe found great momentum from this three-pointer and followed it up with three quick fire points courtesy of an Oran Gallagher free and two fine scores from distance from centre-coward Daire Gallagher to open up a three point advantage approaching the final quarter. 

On 50 minutes, Daire Gallagher kicked over a third through a free to extend the lead to four but three minutes later Luke McGlynn slotted over a free of his own for Glenfin in what was their first score in 20 minutes. 

On 58 minutes, McGlynn pointed another placed ball to narrow the deficit to two points with just a couple of minutes remaining. 

Chasing the game, Glenfin attacked in numbers, with 13 players inside the Dungloe 45’ on occasions. Dungloe managed the pressure well however. 

Deep into injury time two points in arrears, Shaun Ward floated a ball into the square in hope of a team mate to be on hand to hit the ball home however, his kick had too much legs on it and went over the bar. 

Greg McGroary soon blew the full time whistle to mark a fine night for the Rosses Park men and their traveling support. 

Dungloe scorers: Ryan Brennan 1-1, Daire Gallagher 0-3,0-1f, Oran O’Connor 0-3, 0-1f, 0-1m, Karl Magee 0-1, Cian McGee 0-1, Jordan Saville 0-1. 

Glenfin scorers: Luke McGlynn 0-6, 0-5f, Gavin McCormack 1-0, Shaun Ward 0-2, Dáire Quigley 0-1. 

Dungloe: Damien McGowan; Aidan McGee, Dylan Wallace, Sean O’Donnell Browne; Aaron Neely, Karl Magee, Aaron Ward; Cian McGee, Luke Clerkin; Conor Diver, Daire Gallagher, Oran Gallagher; Oran Fallon, Ryan Brennan, Jordan Saville. 

Subs: Brendan McCafferty for C McGee and Oisin McKelvey for Wallace (Both HT), Ethan McCafferty for Fallon (49), Patrick O’Donnell for Saville (61).

Glenfin: James Browne; Niall Doherty, Jack Long, Conor Menamin; Shaun Marley, Darragh Carroll, Oisin McGlynn; Shaun Ward, Niall McMenamin Campbell; Tommy McNulty, Luke McGlynn, Matthew Wootton; Odhran O’Connor, Gavin McCormack, Daire Quigley. 

Subs: Ross Bradley for McMenamin Campbell (46), Josh Bradley for McNulty (55). 

Referee: Greg McGroary (Four Masters)