Letterkenny Gaels eliminated from Ulster running by Stewartstown Harps

Letterkenny Gaels made their Ulster JFC exit at the hands of a fine Stewartstown Harps side this afternoon as the Tyrone men claimed a dominant ten-point win in Owenbeg. 

Lettekenny Gaels 2-5
Stewartstown Harps 2-15

At the midpoint, Dougie Corbett and Paul Melaugh’s side had only registered one point as their opponents departed with 1-7 already under their belts. 

And while they did lift efforts after the break, Gaels had left themselves with much too steep a mountain to climb and Stewartstown kept them at a comfortable enough arm’s length in that second stanza. 

Stewartstown were allowed to hit the ground running with the opening score of the game, just ten seconds in, through Dan Lowe. The Tyrone men then smacked a post through full-forward Macauley Quinn.

Gaels’ first opportunity arrived on four minutes but Conor McBrearty was very unfortunate to see his free from the wide left bounce back off the crossbar. 

To compound the Letterkenny men’s early misery, Stewartstown went right down the other end to double their advantage through Gareth Devlin. Diarmuid Ó Cathaill should really have got Gaels off the mark on seven minutes but he dragged his effort wide from a very attractive position. 

The Donegal Junior champions were finally off the mark on ten minutes when Paddy Doherty’s direct running won the chance for McBrearty to easily clip the close range free. 

Going into the second quarter Gaels started to get to grips with Harps but they just couldn’t make that upper hand count on the scoreboard. After a sustained spell of pressure, they allowed Stewartstown to go right down the other side and kick a third over through Lowe. 

Gaels then passed up on a chance to orchestrate an opportunity for a vital three-pointer as Shay Doherty spilled a through ball from Brian Diver that would have put the former through on goal.   

On 20 minutes, the game’s standout performer to date, Lowe, made it 0-4 to 0-1 with his third of the contest. 

Cathal Devlin put four in it soon after and there was a real danger, even at that premature stage, that Gaels might be on the verge of slipping off the radar completely when cornerback Conor Quinn was allowed to extend the gap even further.  

Five minutes out from the break the collapse you feared was coming arrived, but in completely avoidable circumstances. With Gaels in possession at the back, the ball was inexplicably handed to Lowe and the Harps dangerman raced in to hammer to the back of the net.

And at the changeover it was Stewartstown that comfortably led by nine.  

Gaels needed a big start to the second period but it was Lowe and Stewartstown that again exited the blocks fastest with the gap stretched to ten. 

Gaels did have the ball in the back of the net on 34 minutes but the passage was called back for a free, allowing McBrearty to finally nail a second Letterkenny point to the board. A third arrived soon after as Gaels moved onto three for the afternoon, on 37 minutes. 

Just when it looked like Gaels might be turning a screw of sorts they went down to 14 men for a spell as Ronan Frain received a black card. Stewartstown were then allowed to go 1-9 to 0-3 up when Gareth Devlin lobbed over their first free of the day, as nine once again separated the teams. 

Moving into the last quarter of an hour, Lowe took his tally to 1-5 when Gaels coughed up another cheap free in front of the posts. Gareth Devlin increased his side’s lead to 11 going into the last ten minutes with another easy free from the hands. 

McBrearty did manage to pull a goal back for Gaels, on 52 minutes, when he converted from the spot, to leave it 1-3 to 1-11. Brian Diver also landed a point from play. But going into the last five minutes Stewartstown rattled in a second goal thanks to substitute Anton Coyle. 

Before the end, 'player of the match' Lowe plumped his tally even further to a fine 1-6 while Gareth Devlin also registered a fine brace to move his own haul out to six. In between,  Paddy Doherty raised a second green flag for Gaels and McBrearty landed his fourth free. 

In added time, Gaels lost Ray Quinn to a straight red card as his frustrations boiled over. 

Letterkenny Gaels scorers: Conor McBrearty (1-4,1P, 4f), Paddy Doherty (1-0), Brian Diver (0-1),  

Stewartstown Harps scorers: Dan Lowe (1-6), Gareth Devlin (0-6,2f), Cathal Devlin (0-1), Conor Quinn (0-1), Anton Coyle (1-1,1f)

Letterkenny Gaels: Ryan Graham; Liam McAlary, Niall Diver, Conor Browne; Sean McDonagh, Ray Quinn, Diarmuid Ó Cathail; Brendan O’Brien, Paddy Doherty; Brian Diver, Darren Hunter, Shay Doherty; Ronan Frain, Conor McBrearty, Conor Walker. 
Subs: Darren McBrearty for O’Brien (17), Cormac Cannon for Walker (35), Keelin Margey for D McBrearty (41), Peter Doherty for McAlary (47), Matthew Winters for S Doherty (50). 

Stewartstown Harps: Greg Kelly; Jason Park, Darren Devlin, Conor Quinn; Kyran Robinson, Mark Rooney, Tiernan Rush; Stephen Talbot, Cathal Devlin; Gerard O’Neill, Dan Lowe, Dylan McElhatton; Theo Lowe, Macauley Quinn, Gareth Devlin. 
Subs: Anton Coyle for T Lowe (HT), Cumhai O’Neill for Rush (53), Eoghan O’Donnell for G O’Neill (56).   

Referee: Michael Moore (Down).