Donegal Town U-15s dominate to secure SFAI Ulster Cup victory

Donegal Town’s U-15 side produced a superb performance as they captured the SFAI Ulster Cup with a 3-0 win over Ballyjamesduff on Saturday night in Dry Arch Park in Letterkenny. 

The Donegal side were well worth their win as they dominated the affair from start to finish, and no doubt could’ve been further ahead, had it not been for the great performance of Mark Dowd in nets for the Cavan side. 

In doing so, Donegal Town now add the Ulster Cup to their league and Champions League collection for the season.

It was the Ballyjamesduff men who looked the better of the two sides in the opening stages. Their first chance of the game came on seven minutes when David Alabi fired off his right from a corner but his shot just flew over the crossbar. 

READ NEXT: Illistrin U-14 claim glory in all-Donegal Ulster Cup final

It took the Town a while to find their feet in the game, but when they did, they were well in control.  

Odhran Plunkett’s first touch on the ball saw him send a superb pass up to Ethan Wasson who was through inside against goalkeeper Dowd, but the keeper came out with intense bravery to palm away and kept it level in the early stanzas of the game. 

Ryan Quinn looked sharp and was causing the opposition defence an awful lot of bother. He decided to go himself a few minutes after his side's first effort when he attempted a shot from a half-volley but the ball sailed over. 

With 18 minutes gone, Donegal Town eventually broke the deadlock to make it 1-0 when a high ball was sent in from the right wing, finding Masson unmarked who cooly slotted it home into the corner of the net off his right foot. 

Minutes later Odhran Plunkett sent a fine ball in through to Quinn but Ballyjamesduff’s Aaron Farrelly, who was also in top form on the day, put a serious block in to put the ball out for a corner. 

At this point, Dowd was put under severe pressure but was handling it well, thwarting away any danger, while controlling a number of shots that were fired straight at him. 

Wasson almost added to Donegal’s lead before the break but his shot just drifted wide as the sides marched to the dressing rooms for the half-time break with the Donegal side leading 1-0. 

Ballyjamesduff kept fighting for that equaliser but just couldn’t find the break they needed as Quinn, Plunkett, and Wasson started to dominate the game on their terms, and it showed, as Donegal Town found their second goal. 

Another high ball was floated in from the right side which resulted in goalkeeper Dowd contesting with Quinn in the air, just on the edge of the box, but the ball fell to the feet of Jay Cullen who eased it into an open net to make it 2-0 after 46 minutes. 

They nearly made it 3-0 when a clearance in the Donegal half landed to Wasson who ran through and fired to the net but Dowd pulled off another superb safe while Plunkett shot for the rebound, but Farrelly was quick to put in a serious challenge to avert danger. 

By now, Donegal was in firm control. Wasson eventually added the third, and his second of the afternoon when he controlled the ball in the Ballyjamesduff box. He had time to turn and slot easily past the keeper and into the back of the net. 

Dylan Byrne pulled off the safe of the night on 65 minutes when Fionn Egan was set up for a shot at the edge of the box, but his blast was controlled well by the Donegal goalkeeper who dived high to his right and pushed the ball out for a corner. 

The Donegal team kept looking for their fourth. Still, Dowd denied Quinn twice, who deserves huge credit for his performance in the nets, despite the scoreline, as he pulled off save after save for most of the match.

Still, Ballyjamesduff just couldn’t find the back of the Donegal net on the night as the Town ran out 3-0 victors in clinching the SFAI Ulster Cup. 

Donegal Town: Dylan Byrne (Noah Kennedy 70); Daire O’Donnell, Ruairí Meehan (Aiden Molloy, 65), Jamie Monaghan, Simeou Amoo; Conall Parsons, Iarla Cassidy (Eoin Doherty, 40), Jay Cullen (Senan Gallagher, 65), Ethan Wasson (Sean Byrne, 69); Odhran Plunkett (Cameron Crawford, 67), Ryan Quinn. 

Ballyjamesduff: Mark Dowd; Reon Halpin (Max Brownlow, 46), Ryan Mulvey, Aaron Farrelly, Fionn Egan; Emmet Mican, David Alabi, Darragh McKenna, Nathan O’Reilly; Hugo Morgan, Denis Sweeney.