Donegal Town tighten grip on Division 1 top spot with convincing win over Castlefin

There might be seven league games left for Donegal Town this season but they currently sit in a comfortable position as they stand top of the Division 1 league following their 3-0 win over Castlefin Celtic on Sunday afternoon. 

The Town now sit on 27 points with Glenea United followed closely behind in second place on 26, however, the league leaders have a game in hand and can’t take great confidence following their dominant display over Castlefin in terrible conditions at the Hospital Field. 

And while the second half took a lull throughout the second 45 minutes of football, the Town had an advantage of 3-0 going in at the break which helped them hold out a much-deserved win. 

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 Any mistakes on the day could’ve proved costly with a large breeze and slippery conditions evident from the off but both goalkeepers Mark Gordon and Joe Campbell were able to deal with the fast-moving ball bouncing and skidding off the surface towards their respective nets. 

After a number of half chances, it was Killian Faulkner for Donegal Town who came closest early on with his speed proving really tricky for the Castlefin defence as he whizzed his way through to try and cross it across the opposition box but right-back Daithi Gordon was on hand to stop the ball on the goal line. 

Castlefin’s best chances came midway through the first period when Corrie Lee Brogan rifled a shot towards the Donegal net but Campbell was alert to pull off a superb save and push the ball out for a corner. 

The follow-up effort saw team captain Jordan McKinney reach highest from the corner to fire a bullet towards the goal but the ball instead hit off the back of defender Ed Demokhin and away for another corner which Ben Sweeney dealt with easily. 

By the half-hour mark, the game could’ve gone either way because of the wet conditions possibly causing an error that the opposition could capitalise on but it was Faulkner who broke the deadlock when he was sent through by full-back Sweeney leaving it for his teammate to put into the corner of the net. 

Castlefin were dealt with two setbacks before the break when their defenders James Tinney and Emmet White were forced to leave the field through injury and it didn’t get better from there when seven minutes after scoring their first goal, Donegal Town got their second through an own goal when Tiarnan McConnell hit it into his own net. 

Substitute Barry Tourish nearly brought the game back to a goal with a quick reply, but the ball just slipped right of the Donegal Town post. 

And it was just before the half-time break when the town hit home their third of the day when Sweeney was again present to play the ball across to Declan Duignan who eased it home to make it 3-0 before the break. 

The game took a serious lull in the second period with only a number of half chances that were easily dealt with. 

Ronan Tourish came the closest when his shot midway through the second period deflected off a Donegal Town player and almost caught Campbell off his line, but the goalkeeper did well to get his fingertips to the ball as it hit off the crossbar. 

After a number of chances from the likes of Ian Campbell and Demokhin, the Town nearly made it 4-0 when Sweeney won the ball down the wing, played it inside to Joe Leape in the box, who backheeled it to substitute Mark Jordan who was unfortunate not to score with his shot nailed at the Castlefin goalkeeper. 

The away side went for broke as Donegal Town retreated back to stop any chance of a goal threat. It looked dodgy for them at times but they were happy to let the clock tick down as they saw themselves home to a 3-0 win. 

Donegal Town: Joe Campbell; Ben Sweeney, Ed Demokhin (Ryan Mahon, 84), Joe Doherty, Eoin Slevin; Stephen Graham, Joe Leape, Ian Campbell, Killian Faulkner (Harry Howarth, 67); Ronan McHugh (Mark Jordan, 33), Declan Duignan (Nico Dominik, 77). 

Castlefin Celtic: Mark Gordon; Daithi Gordon, Emmet White (Barry Tourish, 33), Michael Dunnion, James Tinney (Tiarnan McConnell, 37); Corrie Lee Brogan, Dean Kelly, Jordan McKinney, Rabeh Hamdi; Ronan Tourish, Jude Thomas Patton.