St Eunan’s College withstand Loreto fightback to lift Corn Colmcille

St Eunan’s College are celebrating victory in the all-Donegal final of the Ulster Schools Corn Colmcille (U-13½B) final this afternoon in Termon.

St Eunan’s College 3-13
Loreto Milford 2-9

The Letterkenny side, under the management team of Peter Devine, Caolan McGonagle and Danny Curran, used the wind at the Burn Road to their advantage in the opening period against a Loreto Milford side with whom they had drawn with earlier in the campaign.

St Eunan’s were 2-7 to 0-1 up following the first of the three 20-minute periods and then when facing the elements in part two, saw their lead cut from 12 to only 10, which was an accomplishment in the conditions.

So, at 3-11 to 0-7 down, Lorteo, who are managed by Joe Mac Bride, deserve great credit for their third period - halfway through which the sides swap ends - to give themselves a sniff of a chance and make a game of it.

Gavin McAteer, the scorer of 2-5 in all, led by the way However, St Eunan’s had done the spadework and won the competition for the fourth time.

The opened in style, with Daithi Breslin winning a penalty inside of 30 seconds and having dusted himself down, scoring. Loreto’s first sniff at goal was an effort from Alex Cullen, who may have been going for a point, only to see it crash off the crossbar.

St Eunan’s were getting the ball forward and then hemming Loreto in and they hay from that. Cathal Doherty at midfield was particularly impressive during this spell and hit four points in the opening period. St Eunan’s also were indebted to the abilities of Rohan McMenamin, who took on a pass from Doherty to place a fine second goal on 16 minutes and the same player also added two points. Loreto’s only indent on the scoreboard came from a free by Evan McDaid.

Devin and his management team would’ve been delighted the way their team opted not to sit in as part two took shape and using the mantra of defence being the best form of attack, saw a third goal arrive on 32 minutes, courtesy of Breslin, again, who slapped home.

Shea Boyle of Termon showed his familiarity with the surroundings and kicked three points in the second period and at one stage, St Eunan’s were 3-10 to 0-2 up. However, Loreto did manage to get going later, with Alex Cullen and Jake Burrowes scoring, before two frees from McAteer.

Still 13 down going into the third and final period, Loreto knew they needed goals to have any chance and McAteer provided two in the opening four minutes, firstly from a penalty and then he drove a crisp effort into the bottom corner.



That meant they trailed 3-11 to 2-8 and they knew they’d have the breeze for the last 10 minutes. St Eunan’s didn’t panic though and kept things ticking over to ensure it would be their name on the trophy.

St Eunan’s scorers: Daithi Breslin 2-0, 1-0 pen; Rohan McMenamin 1-3; Cathal Doherty 0-4, 2f; Shea Boyle 0-3; Paul Mullen, Killian Friel and Bradley Boyle 0-1.
Loreto scorers: Gavin McAteer 2-5, 1-0 pen, 3f; Evan McDaid 0-2, 2f; Alex Cullen and Jake Burrowes 0-1.

St Eunan’s: Thady Barrett; Paul Mullen, Luca Cannon, Daniel McClafferty; Patrick McHugh, Aaron Callaghan, Ronan Cullen; Cathal Doherty, Callam McGilloway; Shea Boyle, Rohan McMenamin, Adam Rogers; Killian Friel, Daithi Breslin, Zach Gallagher. Panel members: Bradley Boyle, Jay Dowds, Charlie Hegarty, Sam O’Donnell, Paul Speer, Darragh Doherty, Filip Dutaj, Aidan Keeny, Liam McGarvey, Marc Nicholls.

Loreto Milford: Dagm O’Connell; Mark MacCleary, Shay Givvons, Calvin Gallagher; Charlie Gorman, James Travers, Caolán Scott; Alex Cullen, John Cannon; Jake Burrowes, Gavin McAteer, Ronan Cunningham; Flynn Nash, Shay Cannon, Darragh Naughton. Panel members: Enda Boyce, Johnny McAteer, Rory Gibbons, Declan Moran, Caollan Coyle, Evan McDaid, Henry Lyons.

Referee: Barney Curran (Downings)