Glenswilly make it four championship wins with victory over Sean MacCumhaills

Glenswilly made it four wins out of four in the Donegal Senior Championship with a fine five-point win over MacCumhaills at Pairc Naomh Columba on Sunday. 

There were just two points separating the sides approaching the final 10 minutes but Oisin Crawford’s 51st-minute goal left Gary McDaid’s side in a healthy position to see out the game. 

The hosts began this round four tie the brighter of the two, racing into an early five-point lead with Gary McFadden pointing either side of a three-pointer. 

The home side pounced on a poor kick out and Michael Murphy found Daithi Gildea who was through on goal and he made no mistake in slotting the ball past Eoin Gallen. 

The Twin-Town’s men responded with their first score of the game through a fine Oisin Gallen effort before Gary McFadden cancelled it out with his third point of the game. 

Gary Wilson’s men again hit back though, with Fintan Griffin and Chad McSorley both finding the white flag to leave their side trailing by three on 10 minutes. 

The tempo slowed down slightly for the next period of the contest and the next four scores were shared two apiece. Oisin Gallen and Jamie Keegan found the target for the visitors while Michael Murphy fired over two frees for the hosts, leaving just three still between the teams on 25 minutes. 

Glenswilly continued their fine shooting in front of goal, hitting three unanswered scores courtesy of Daithi Gildea, Michael Murphy, and Shane McDevitt. 

However, Wilson’s men battled back with McSorley and Keegan pointing late in the half to leave four between them at the break. 

Gary McDaid’s outfit hit the opening score of the second stanza when Michael Murphy slotted the ball between the posts. 

Although the MacCumhaill Park residents rallied back well, pointing three without reply through Oisin Gallen, Conor McGinty, and Kevin McCormack to close the deficit to just two approaching the final quarter. 

However, on 51 minutes Glenswilly found the green flag for a second time. Substitute Oisin Crawford played a one-two with Jake Kelly before firing the ball into the net to push the advantage to five. 

The next four points were exchanged two apiece, with Murphy and Gallen both successful with two placed balls each. 

The visitors searched hard for the required goals to change the outcome of the contest in the closing stages but to no avail as Marc Brown ended proceedings to mark a fine win for Gary McDaid and his outfit. 

Glenswilly scorers: Michael Murphy 0-6, 0-4f, 0-1m; Daithi Gildea 1-1; Oisin Crawford 1-0; Gary McFadden 0-3; Shane McDevitt 0-1. MacCumhaills scorers: Oisin Gallen 0-5, 0-3f, 0-1m; Jamie Keegan 0-2, Chad McSorley 0-2, Conor McGinty 0-1, Kevin McCormack 0-1, Fintan Griffin 0-1. 

Glenswilly: Kealan McFadden; Jake Kelly, Sean Collum, Jamie McCauley; Ryan Diver, Jack Gallagher, Donal Gallagher; Mark Bonner, Gary Kelly; Eoghan Scott, Gary McFadden, Shane McDevitt; Caolan Kelly, Michael Murphy, Daithi Gildea. Subs: Oisin Crawford for McDevitt (42 mins), Cormac Callaghan and Darragh Enright for Caolan Kelly and Diver (46 mins), Auden Friel for Scott (50 mins). 

MacCumhaills: Eoin Gallen; Conor Griffin, Aaron Gillooley, Andrew McCloskey; Cian Mulligan, Luke Gavigan, Fintan Griffin; Chad McSorley, Gavin Gallagher; Sean Martin, Jamie Keegan, Shaun McMenamin; Conor McGinty, Oisin Gallen, Kevin McCormack. Subs: Jack Duffy for McMenamin (46 mins), Joseph Boyle for McSorley (47 mins), Steven O’Reilly for Keegan (53 mins), Sean Breen for Conor Griffin (57 mins).

Referee: Marc Brown (Four Masters).