Donegal League Reports: Letterkenny Rovers take another step towards the title

Sunday 15-03-20026

Brian McCormick Premier 

St Catherines 0 Letterkenny Rovers 2

Weather conditions were always going to play a major role on the quality of football, and unfortunately, this was the case as a strong swirling wind mixed with hailstone showers made this a difficult watch.

Letterkenny opened the scoring on 10 minutes when the home team were guilty of dwelling on the ball along their back line and Gorman needed no second invitation to have a pop from 25yards that sailed past the helpless home keeper.

The remainder of the first half was scrappy, but the young Saint Catherine’s team settled and now seemed more competitive without really testing the away keeper.

The second half continued much like the first, with Letterkenny now keeping the ball on the deck and looking the more dangerous to extend their lead.

This came on 75 minutes when substitute McNamee swivelled on a loose bouncing ball in the Saints' box and struck accurately for the goal that settled this tie as a contest.

The home team looked light compared to the more physical Rovers team, who weathered and mastered the poor conditions better.

TDA Appliance D1

Gweedore United 2 Ballybofey United 2

A hard-earned point was gained by both teams at the Carrickboyle in their quest to retain their statuses in the division. This match was previously abandoned on October past following a serious injury sustained by Gweedore United's Maítíú de Gallaí on the 68th minute. The visitors went into the rearranged concluding 22 minutes of this game with a slender lead from a Martin O'Reilly headed goal on the 24th minute. 

There was no room for error for either team in a rather fascinating conclusion of this game. The home side settled the quickest and produced an excellent counter-attack, which was polished off by Francis Gallagher on the 70th minute. Ballybofey United restored their lead on the 78th minute through Martin O'Reilly. O'Reilly's sublime effort from outside the Gweedore box gave Dan O'Donnell no chance.

The hosts showed tremendous resilience and were awarded on the 82nd minute. An excellent move involving Brian McFadden, Ciaran McFadden, Stephen McFadden, Francis Gallagher and Darren Ferry all provided an assist to Calum Feireatéar. Feireatéar found himself one-on-one with the keeper and coolly placed the ball past the advancing Daniel Crawford into the net.

Such was the magnitude of the game that it was end-to-end stuff by both teams as they went in search of the much-needed win. The home side's best chance of winning the game came from Steven McFadden.

McFadden's shot from outside the box went just agonisingly wide past the left-hand post. Kieran Thompson had the best opportunity for the away side to leave Carrickboyle with all three points, but his effort went just over the crossbar. In the end, both teams had to settle for a share of the points and played their part in a very entertaining end of this fixture from the previous October. Gweedore United will now turn their attention to Convoy Arsenal and Ballybofey United entertain Kerrykeel71 respectively next week, in their bids to remain in the division.  

Gweedore Celtic 2 Cappry Rovers 3

Cappry maintained their promotion challenge with this hard-earned victory away to Gweedore Celtic. They had to come from behind twice to earn the points and, in doing so, consolidate their push towards the Premier Division.

Gweedore were the dominant side in the first half, with Peter Carragher and Michael McGee bossing the midfield area and Shaun Gallagher and Joey Gillespie in charge of the central defensive area. Gweedore hit the front as early as the sixth minute when Padraig Gallagher's cross from the left deceived Callaghan in the Cappry goal, and it ended in the back of the net.

Cronan M Fadden spurned a number of chances to extend the home team's lead, whilst Conor McDaid and Jack Byrne both had equalising opportunities for the away team.

The second half saw a more determined Cappry pushing for a goal and they were level in the sixtieth minute when Carroll headed powerfully to the net following a corner. Gweedore responded immediately when Adam McBride raced clear of a static defence to slip the ball past Callaghan in the Cappry goals.

Not to be outdone, Cappry regained parity when Jack Byrne got on the end of Mc Glynn's cross, and with Gweedore players believing the ball had crossed the line for a goal kick, Byrne finished from six yards. Moments later, Cappry hit the front when they were awarded a penalty, which was converted by Conor McDaid to secure all three points.

Despite the wintry conditions, both teams served up an entertaining game of football throughout the ninety minutes.

Referee M.McGarrigle

Donegal Physiotherapy D2 

Cranford FC 3 Whitestrand United 2

Cranford got the win in the last minute in a tight affair. Cranford started strongest and got the breakthrough from Conan Doran and it was 1-0 at half time. 

Whitestrand started the second half strong and managed to turn the game around with 2 penalty kicks to put them ahead after 60 minutes. 

Cranford regrouped and got the leveller from a penalty themselves from Shane Coll. Just as the game looked to be ending all square up popped Cathair Sweeney to win the game with the last kick.  

Lifford Celtic  2 Dunfanaghy Youths 4

(No Report Submitted)

Saturday 14-03-2026

Glencar Inn Saturday D1

Strand Rovers 1 Drumbar FC 2

The first half showed two evenly matched teams with plenty of chances for each side. Drumbar’s Jacques McLeod got the first goal of the match with a header when Odhran Meehan crossed the ball into the box. 

Strand pushed for the equaliser and finally found the net as the evergreen Brendan Glackin took a throw-in and launched it into the box and was cleared by a defender back to Brendan Glackin, who volleyed the ball into the far corner of the net from the edge of the box.

The second half was a bit cagey, with both teams really wanting to claim the three points.  As the end whistle was coming Oisin Ebbs sealed the win for the travelling team after numerous excellent saves from Paddy McGarvey fell to Ebbs feet for a tap-in on 94 minutes.

Ref Seimi Ferry

Glencar Celtic 5 Oldtown Celtic 3

(No Report Submitted)

Old Orchard Saturday D2

Fanad United  2 Glenea United Reserves 1

Fanad United welcomed Glenea United Reserves to Traigh-a-Loch on Wednesday evening, and it was the home side who took all three points with a 2-1 victory. 

On a windy night in Traigh-a-Loch, the opening stages were cagey with both sides adapting to the conditions. However, the game burst into life in the 10th minute with 2 goals in quick succession.

It was Fanad who took the lead when Charlie McAteer slid the ball through to Adam Carr, who rounded the keeper before slotting home. The lead, however, lasted less than a minute as Glenea equalised straight from the kick-off. 

An attack down the left saw the ball hit low into the box and Niall McGee was quickest to react, scoring from six yards. On the half-hour mark, Niall McGee did well to find space in the box, but he dragged his shot well wide. Five minutes before the break, Cormac Sweeney went on a great run into the box, but his shot produced a fine save from Glenea keeper Joe Coll. 

As the wind increased, the second half became scrappy with clear chances at a premium. It wasn't until the 70th minute that the first clear chance came, and it was Fanad who got what turned out to be the winner.

Daibhid Lynch won possession in midfield and his pass saw Niall Toland beat the offside trap before cutting into the box and scoring low into the bottom left-hand corner. The remaining 20 minutes saw both sides create some half-chances with neither scoring 

Referee Mick Lagan 

Copany Rovers 5 Swilly Rovers  2   

(No Report Submitted)

Finn Travel Saturday D3

Cappry Rovers  4 Milford United  3

Cappry Rovers and Milford United served up a seven-goal thriller in a tough but sporting encounter in Cappry Park. Ronan Coyle opened the scoring with a brilliant strike. On 33 minutes, Karl McGlynn doubled Cappry's lead when he got in behind the Milford defence and slotted home. 

The second half was frantic, and TJ Evesson pulled a goal back for Milford just five minutes into the second half.

David Carr hit a spectacular volley after Coyle had flicked on an Odhran McGlynn long throw to re-establish the two-goal cushion on 57 minutes. However, Milford kept coming, and McConigly equalised almost immediately with a tidy finish. 

Both teams had further chances, but in the 87th minute Ciarnan Quigley Doherty put a great cross into the box, and David Carr tapped home his second from close range. Milford again struck back in the 90th minute from George McNulty to leave Cappry sweating during injury time, but they held out for an important win. 

Evesson, Nash and Black were best for Milford, while Charlie Byrne, Corey Doherty, Carr and the McGlynns impressed for Cappry. Referee: Patrick McCauley.

Ulster Shield  

Lagan Harps 1 Bonagee Utd 4

Bonagee went through to the next round after dominating for long periods. The visitors started strongly and took the lead after eleven minutes. Kian Fletcher had an inswinging corner pushed away by Kai Brown, but he curled the resultant corner in at the back post. Lagan responded, and Mattew Doran equalised with a good finish from a narrow angle. Bonagee had the better of the remaining half, but Lagan had a few good moments. 

Bonagee put on the pressure in the second half, but some wasteful balls and some dogged defending kept them at bay. Youngsters Jai Ramsey and Senan Kavanagh put in impressive performances. Lagan just couldn’t hold on to the ball and the pressure finally paid off on seventy three minutes. 

Veteran goalscorer Aidan McLaughlin was sprung from the bench, and he headed home from a corner. Joel Jimmy then fired home a powerful shot from the edge of the area before Conor Stewart added a fourth in the final minutes.

Referee: Stephen Laird