MacCumhaills come good to see off Dungloe in U-21 group stages

MacCumhaills chalked up their first win of the U-21 campaign with a comfortable nine-point  victory over Dungloe in Ballybofey on Sunday afternoon.

In a game that was competitive up to half-time, MacCumhaills took complete control in the second half and ran out comprehensive winners against a Dungloe side that failed to score in the second half.

With Sean Martin leading the charge, MacCumhaills had a look of winners about them from early in the second half and thanks to a brace of points from Martin and one from Fionn McNulty had opened up a six-point advantage by the 40th minute. 

Martin ended the game with a tally of four points in a ‘player of the match’ performance from the centre half-forward.

And the locals closed out the game with a further brace from Martin and one from Ronan Callaghan as the game fizzled out in the closing quarter. 

Dungloe had opened well and with Oisin Caulfield and Ethan McCaffrey on top in the middle of the field, the men from the Rosses took the game to the locals from the off.

They enjoyed the better of the early exchanges and led 0-2 to 0-1 after 11 minutes thanks to 

points from Cillian Bonner and Oran Fallon. Darragh Boyle, from a ’45, scored the MacCumhaills point.  

However, a 12th minute Matthew McGeehan goal edged MacCumhaills in front at 1-1 to 0-2. 

Dungloe were still very much in the contest after senior star Aaron Ward got on the end of a good move with a fine point. 

McNulty and Eoin McGonagle nudged MacCumhaills two up early in the second quarter but a Caulfield goal after a sweeping Dungloe levelled the game at 1-3 each approaching the half-hour mark. 

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But the game changed utterly in the closing seconds of the half when McNulty got a touch to a long delivery as he competed in the air with Dungloe keeper Damian McGowan to grab MacCumhaills’ second goal and a half-time lead of 2-3 to 1-3.

But when the sides reemerged for the second stanza, it was the Twin Towns side that took full control to add their first points to the group stage board having lost away to Gaoth Dobhair last weekend. 

 MacCumhaills scorers: Fionn McNulty 1-1,1f, Sean Martin 0-4, Matthew McGeehan 1-1, Fionn McGinty, Eoin McGonagle, Ronan Callaghan 0-1 each. 

Dungloe scorers: Oisin Caulfield 1-0, Cillian Bonner, Oran Fallon, Aaron Ward  0-1 each. 

MacCumhaills: Charlie Byrne; Fionn McGinty, Ronan Callaghan, Eoin McGonagle; Conor Murphy, Ryan Gavigan, Conor Thompson; Andrew Murray, Shay Bradley; Darragh Boyle, Sean Martin, Matthew McGeehan; Conor McGinty, Fionn McNulty, John McMenamin.

Subs: Dan Donnelly for C Thompson. 

Dungloe; Damian McGowan; Joe McElroy, Dylan Wallace, Aidan McGee; Jordan Savlile, Aaron Ward, Karl Magee; Ethan McCaffrey, Oisin Caulfield; Cianan McDaid, Oran Gallagher, Paddy McGarvey; Cillian Bonner, Ryan Brennan, Oran Fallon.

Subs: Killian Gillespie for C McDaid; James McEniff for D Wallace; Cormac Hanlon; Kian Gallagher for J Saville. 

Referee: Sean McDaid (Urris).