St Eunan's undone by Errigal Ciaran in injury-time in Ulster

Three Errigal Ciaran points in injury time meant heartbreak for St Eunan’s in the Ulster Club SFC preliminary round.

A 45 from Conor O’Donnell Jnr had edged St Eunan’s ahead on a 0-10 to 0-9 scoreline in the 59th minute and the O’Donnell Park club had eight toes in the quarter-final. However, Errigal Ciaran midfielder Ben McDonnell hit two points to flip and contest and with the last play of the three minutes of injury time, Thomas Canavan punched over the insurance one.

St Eunan’s last attack was hampered with McDonnell wrestling on the ground with Shane O’Donnell - who was certainly the visitor's best attacking threat in Omagh - and with that, it was gone.

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The highlight of the first half, following which St Eunan’s led by a one, was a top-drawer stop from Shaun Patton from a Peter Harte penalty, with the netminder springing to his left to turn the shot around the post. Ciaran Moore had taken down Joe Oguz, who was coming in dangerously from the endline. 

St Eunan’s decided to start without Niall O’Donnell and 10 minutes in were trailing 0-3 to 0-1. Ruairí Canavan opened the scoring on 42 seconds and scored his side’s third with a free, either side of a well-worked point from Peter Harte, who was popping up everywhere.

By then, St Eunan’s had just a Conor O’Donnell Jnr free to their name, though his namesake, Conor O’Donnell Snr, was the stitch that linked together and finished a passage of play to take his team back to 0-3 to 0-2. 

Errigal Ciaran were edging it by the quarter-hour and with things so tight, had Patton not saved brilliantly from Harte’s spot kick on 17 minutes, the complexion of the contest would’ve been so different. As it was, St Eunan’s managed to get away with just a point conceded, with Ruairí Canavan piercing over the 45 that followed the penalty.

St Eunan’s then enjoyed their best spell of the half, with Shane O’Donnell instrumental, kicking two scores himself to level it up at 0-4 to 0-4 before Jame Kelly’s belter edged Barry Meehan’s team in front for the first time.

Their level of economy was commendable, with just two first-half wides - the second of which came from Patton with the last kick - compared to Errigal Ciaran’s six, with two more having dropped short. And, of course, there was the missed penalty. 

At the break, the slenderest of leads belonged to St Eunan’s, 0-5 to 0-4.

Twenty days on from their 1-13 to 1-10 win over Dungloe in the Donegal SFC final, St Eunan’s took to the provincial stage, with a break considerably longer than Errigal Ciaran. Storm Ashley forced a postponement of the Tyrone showpiece two weeks ago so they came through on a 0-12 to 1-8 scoreline only eight nights’ beforehand against Trillick. 

Hangover or momentum? Enda McGinley, Tyrone’s three-time All-Ireland winning manager knew his side had domestically gained something of a reputation of a second-half team and they had work to do come the second half. St Eunan’s took Niall O’Donnell on and had plenty of possession early in part two, only for Odhran Robinson and Harte to swap the lead Errigal Ciaran’s way. 

But St Eunan’s were picking up lots of breaks and when Conor O’Donnell’s second free restored parity, Niall O’Donnell, classily, dropped the shoulder to score and make it 0-7 to 0-6, some 12 minutes into the second half. 

Both teams were missing chances though - Errigal Ciaran had three wides in 15 second-half minutes and St Eunan’s had four - so the gap remained as close as close can be.  Cargin, the Antrim champions who defeated Naomh Conaill in 2022, were the quarter-final opponents who were watching on. Neither team in the chill at Healy Park were thinking that far ahead. 

Moore, after a give-and-go, thought he had made it 0-8 to 0-6 on 49 minutes and although referee Noel Mooney consulted both umpires, the flagging of the white flag was ruled out and points from Mark Kavanagh and Peter Óg McCartan had Errigal Ciaran up 0-8 to 0-7.

Shane O’Donnell, though, just as he had in the first half, hit two quickfire points and when Ben McDonnell registered at the other end with six minutes left, it was even at 0-9 apiece. Then, O’Donnell’s 45 put St Eunan’s ahead again.  But just like their last provincial campaign in 2021, which ended with defeat against Watty Grahams Glen, St Eunan’s will look back at this one with a sense of regret. 

Errigal Ciaran scorers: Ruairí Canavan 0-3, 1f, 45; Ben McDonnell 0-3; Peter Harte 0-2; Odhran Robinson, Mark Kavanagh, Peter Óg McCartan and Thomas Canavan 0-1.
St Eunan’s scorers: Shane O’Donnell 0-4; Conor O’Donnell Snr Jnr 0-3, 2f, 45; Conor O’Donnell Snr, James Kelly and Niall O’Donnell 0-1

Errigal Ciaran: Darragh McAnenly; Cormac Quinn, Aidan McCrory, Ciaran Quinn; Peter Óg McCartan, Niall Kelly, Tiarnan Colhoun; Ben McDonnell, Jow Oguz; Padraig McGirr, Peter Harte, Ciaran McGinley; Darragh Canavan, Odhran Robinson, Ruairí Canavan.  Subs: Thomas Canavan for McGirr (39); Mark Kavanagh for Robinson (45); Ryan Ward and Dermot Morrow for Quinn and Colhoun (58).
St Eunan’s: Shaun Patton; Aaron Deeney, Conor Morrison, Caolan Ward; Darragh Mulgrew, Conor O’Donnell Snr, Kieran Tobin; Eoin Dowling; Ciaran Moore; James Kelly, Shane O’Donnell, Oran Winston; Conor O’Donnell Jnr, Eoin McGeehin, Kevin Kealy. Subs: Niall O’Donnell for Winston (half-time); Pauric Boyle for McGeehin (47); Lee Monagle for O’Donnell Jnr (60)
Referee: Noel Mooney (Cavan).