Donegal Town gets season off to a flying start with a victory over Dunkineely Celtic

Donegal Town started their 2024/25 season off on the right track on Sunday afternoon as they eased to victory over Dunkineely Celtic in the opening round of the Brian McCormick Cup in Bruckless. 

Under new boss Marty Byrne, following the departure of long-serving manager Paul McHugh, it was important that the Donegal Town club got off on the right foot and no doubt they will take great satisfaction having placed nine goals past a young Dunkineely team. 

With the home side struggling to get any results last season in the Second Division, they knew it was going to be a tough mountain to climb against a team who were on the cusp of promotion to the Premier Division only to lose in the play-off last year to Gweedore Celtic. 

Joe Campbell had very little to do in the Donegal Town net, with the away side controlling the game from start to finish, putting five goals past Jamie Kelly in the first half. 

Ciaran Monaghan got on the scoring sheet early doors to set his side off on a positive note, but there was always confidence from early in the match that Donegal Town were going to control possession and twist the game to their benefit. 

Team captain Eoin Slevin added his side’s second of the afternoon before Ronan McHugh scored from the spot to make it 3-0. 

It didn’t stop there, with Dunkineely already under the cosh, it went from bad to worse as they accidentally kicked in two own goals late in the first half to add goal number our and five for Donegal Town who were left smiling with still 45 minutes to go. 

Nothing improved for the home side in the second-half with Donegal netting home four more goals with Aaron Gallagher coming off the bench to fire one into the net, while Declan Duignan stood as the standout player up top, kicking home a hattrick within 20 minutes to seal a deserved victory for Donegal Town. 

Dunkineely Celtic: Jamie Kelly; Dylan Henry, Cian Carr, Dillon Rowan, Marc Duddy-Wilson; Adam O’Neill, Christopher Boyle, Adrian Nesbitt, Christopher Cunningham; Shaun Dobbyn, Aaron O’Shea.  

Donegal Town: Joe Campbell; Matthew McKenna, John Doherty, Cian Gavigan, Niall Feeney; Ciaran Monaghan, Eoin Slevin, Ian Campbell, Jake Quinn; Declan Duignan, Ronan McHugh. Subs: Aaron Gallagher for Campbell; Ben Sweeney for Monaghan. 

Referee: Tony McNamee