Strong second half performance helps St Eunan's get the better of Naomh Ultan

It’s two wins from two games for St. Eunan’s who produced a fine second half performance to eventually kill off the challenge of Naomh Ultan in Group B of the Junior A Championship at O’Donnell Park.

St Eunan’s 1-12
Naomh Ultan 1-8

Following their opening day win over Robert Emmets a fortnight ago, St. Eunan’s were again good value for their victory.

They look a well balanced outfit with strength and quality down the spine of their team and while Naomh Ultan certainly proved no easy push-overs, the Letterkenny side never really looked in danger of losing this one.

The home side started well and kicked two points within the opening two minutes - Darragh Ellison and Conor Morrison popping over the scores.

But once they managed to settle, Naomh Ultan began to show their worth and Cian Kennedy kicked his and his team’s opening score with a well taken free on nine minutes.

Two minutes later, Naomh Ultan were awarded a penalty when Conor Morrison was penalised for a foul on Peter Alvey. Dermot Gallier neatly tucked home his penalty and suddenly the visitors were two points in front.

But within a minute the green flag was raised at the other end when Darragh Ellison showed wonderful skill to pick the ball up on the run and in an instant, drive it to the net.

A fisted point soon followed from the raiding defender Dylan Doogan and St. Eunan’s looked to be in control leading 1-3 to 1-1 at the midway point of the half.

With half-time approaching, the lead was out to three points, 1-5 to 1-2, Patrick Tobin fisting over from close range for another well worked St. Eunan’s score.

But credit to Naomh Ultan, they finished the half on top and were rewarded with an excellent Patrick White point and a free from Kennedy to ensure they went in at half-time just a point down, 1-5 to 1-4.

White took less than a minute after the restart to kick his team level with another delightful score from long range.

But St. Eunan’s hit the front again soon after when Lee McMonagle converted a close-in free to make it 1-6 to 1-5. 

McMonagle had a fine game at full-forward and on a number of occasions, he was out in front of his man to meet the deliveries that came his way, the vast majority of which were sent in by Cormac Finn from midfield.

On one such occasion when the pair linked up on 48 minutes, McMonagle turned and pointed for one of the scores of the game to put his team 1-9 to 1-6 in front.

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The St. Eunan’s front-line was also helped by the introduction at half-time of Patrick McGowan who scored two from frees, and just as importantly, got on an awful lot of ball which he always seemed to use well.

In the end, St. Eunan’s eased themselves to a four-point win. Manager Peter McGeehin has a squad blessed with some experience and plenty of exciting talent and the team was well served in this game by Doogan, McMonagle, Sean Halvey and goalkeeper Conor Harley who made a couple of excellent stops in this game, including a brilliant reaction save under his crossbar right at the finish.

Naomh Ultan played well in patches, but they’ll be disappointed to have scored only four points in the second half, especially after getting back level after half-time. They had the wind at their backs in that second half, but they found themselves penned in at times as St. Eunan’s lifted their game when they needed to.

Naomh Ultan, after their opening day win over Naomh Padraig of Muff, are still well placed in Group B, but will probably need to win one of their two final games if they are to qualify from the group.

St Eunan’s scorers: Darragh Ellison 1-2, 1f; Lee McMonagle 0-3, 2f; Dylan Doogan 0-2; Patrick McGowan 0-2, 2f; Conor Morrison, Patrick Tobin, Oisin McGarvey 0-1 each.
Naomh Ultan scorers: Cian Kennedy 0-6, 5f, 1 45; Dermot Gallier 1-0, pen; Patrick White 0-2

St Eunan’s: Conor Harley; Garvin McCarron, Conor Morrison, Dylan Doogan; Cian McMonagle, Sean Halvey, Donal Higgins; Cormac Finn, Darragh Morrison; Josh Hay, Darragh Ellison, Dualtach Molloy; Patrick Tobin, Lee McMonagle, Peter Alvey. Subs: Patrick McGowan for Ellison (half-time); Oisin McGarvey for Molloy (54), Ultan McGuinness for D Morrison (59), Ryan Hilferty for Doogan (59).

Naomh Ultan: Daniel McGlynn; Jamie Cunningham, John Knightley, Jack Boyle; Joseph Alvey, Aidan Duddy, Aaron Kyles; Cian Kennedy, Donal Murrin; Kyle Breslin, Dermot Gallier, Patrick White; Daniel Gallagher, Luke Gallagher, Peter Alvey. Sub: Mark Erskine for White (58).

Referee: Anthony Finn (Naomh Colmcille)