Gaoth Dobhair come good down the home stretch to defeat MacCumhaills

Gaoth Dobhair went to Ballybofey this afternoon and picked up a deserving five-point U-21 championship group stage win over hosts MacCumhaills. 

MacCumhaills 1-5
Gaoth Dobhair 1-10

The visitors were the better side throughout but found it difficult to shake a young but game Twin Towns outfit from their tails. 

Gaoth Dobhair looked like they might finally pull away at the start of the second-half as they moved four clear. However, three unanswered points from Luke Gavigan’s lads propelled them back to within one right on the 45-minute mark. 

Still, the visitors would find their scoring boots in the final quarter with replacement Steven McFadden kicking three of his team’s last four points as Christopher McFadden’s charges finished strongly.  

Back at the outset, it was the hosts that edged the opening quarter thanks, in large, to an Oisin McGlinchey three-pointer. 

Cian Mulligan had kicked MacCumhaills in front on five minutes but Eoin De Burca quickly stroked that out. But with McGlinchey getting through up the other end, his first time pull on the grounded ball nestled sweetly in the bottom right hand corner of the net.

Cathal De Burca and Donal McBride, from a close range fee, would both clear the crossbar for the visitors as 1-1 led 0-3 at the midpoint of  the opening period. 

However, the pendulum swung emphatically back the other direction on 17 minutes when Stephen McFadden took advantage of some hesitancy, under a direct ball in the MacCumhaills defence to race through and hammer in a goal for Gaoth Dobhair. 

Kevin McCormick almost landed a second three-pointer for the hosts but while he managed to get around Daithi Roberts initially, his goalbound effort was stopped on the line by the retreating Aidan Breathnach.

Gaoth Dobhair then broke a 20-minute scoring duck, bang on the half hour, when McCormick sent Fionn McNulty clear. Truth be told, the big midfielder should really have rattled the net but his drilled effort just went the wrong side of the crossbar. And at the changeover, Gaoth Dobhair led by three at 1-5 to 1-2. 

Gaoth Dobhair started the second period brightest, with substitute Steven McFadden making an instant impression with a sixth over for the away side. Cian McBride was then denied in spectacular fashion by Oisin McMenamin in the MacCumhaills goal. 

Jack Duffy and Aaron Gilooley registered twice in quick succession for MacCumhaills as the gap was suddenly cut back to two. Home replacement Andrew Murray kicked a third point on the trot for the Twin Towns and 1-5 now chased 1-6. 

Going into the fourth and final quarter, Finnan Coyle helped steady Gaoth Dobhair as two once again became the cushion. Steven McFadden added more valuable breathing space two minutes out from time when he grabbed his second of the afternoon, this time from a close range free.  

MacCumhaills needed to find the back of the net in the closing stages but it was Gaoth Dobhair that made sure of things late on with Steven McFadden landing a brace of insurance points in added time to seal the deal. 

MacCumhaills scorers: Oisin McGlinchey (1-0), Cian Mulligan (0-1), Jack Duffy (0-1), Fionn McNulty (0-1),  Aaron Gilooley (0-1), Andrew Murray (0-1).

Gaoth Dobhair scorers:  Eoin De Burca (0-3,1m), Stephen McFadden (1-0), Donal McBride (0-1,1f), Cathal De Burca (0-1), Steven McFadden (0-4,1f), Finnan Coyle (0-1). 

MacCumhaills: Oisin McMenamin; Alan Sproule, Pete Byrne, Eoin McGonagle; Sean Martin, Aaron Gilooley, Josh McMenamin; Jack Duffy, Fionn McNulty; Cian Mulligan, Conor McGinty, Oisin McGlinchey; Dylan Doherty, Alex McGeehin, Kevin McCormick.
Subs:  Andrew Murray for Doherty (35 mins), Darragh Boyle for McGlinchey (37 mins), Sean Breen for McGonagle (43 mins), Conor McCormick for J McMenamin (51 mins). 

Gaoth Dobhair: Daithi Roberts; Sean Noel McFadden, Shaun Gallagher; Jamie Doherty, Aidan Breathnach, Daire Ferry, Ciasn McEntee; Donal McBride, Stephen McFadden; Cian McBride, Liam McFadden, Cathal De Burca; Finnan Coyle, Eoin De Burca, Fiachra Coyle.
Subs: Steven McFadden for Fiachra Coyle (ht). 

Referee: Siobhan Coyle (Gaeil Fhánada).