“I wasn’t pleased with a lot of what went on" - Rory Kavanagh

Rory Kavanagh, the St Eunan’s manager, voiced his displeasure at some ‘crazy’ incidents during Saturday night’s Division 1 draw with Ardara at O’Donnell Park.

The 2012 All-Ireland winner saw his side share the spoils, but was unimpressed when he assessed the game.

Ardara full-forward CJ Molloy was sent off following a challenge on Oran Winston late in the game.

On a night when James Kelly and Dylan Doogan also had to be withdrawn, Kavanagh said some of his players required Head Injury Assessments (HIAs).

“I wasn’t pleased with a lot of what went on and what I witnessed out there,” Kavanagh told Donegal Live.

“There were two, if not three challenges where players were out of control. We have a duty of care to keep boys safe and I felt there were some reckless challenges that went in.

“Boys got hurt and are having to be assessed and that’s not good.

“There was a lot of stuff that was crazy that went on in the second half and we’re not happy with that.

“There are a lot of players in there now who need HIAs and I just thought some of the stuff that went on in terms of the tackling was crazy.”

Kelly netted a first-half goal in the 1-4 to 0-7 stalemate, which was scoreless for the last 17 minutes.

“Overall, I think we lost control of the game, certainly in the second half,” Kavanagh said.

“We started to get too emotionally involved in the game and we strayed away from the game plan.

“We have a lot of inexperience out there. We needed to calm the play down, use the width of the pitch and just be a wee bit more economical. We didn’t do that and we allowed them to get momentum.

“They fed off our turnovers and that gave them energy.”

Only Aaron Deeney and Eoin McGeehin from the 2021 Donegal SFC winning team began for St Eunan’s.

Kavanagh said: “It was a real physical battle. A lot of boys coming in to experience senior football, it was a baptism of fire. Physical, hard games like that will stand to them."