Unforgettable day for Donegal Town FC as U-16s reach first ever SFAI U-16 final

What an unforgettable day for Donegal Town FC as history was made when the U-16s sealed their place in the SFAI Trophy Final after a convincing 3 0 win against Clara Town.

In glorious sunshine at the Hospital Field and in front of a huge crowd, the  boys set the pace of the game right from the off as they pressed Clara back and dominated possession in the early stages without creating any clear openings with Doherty and Parsons pulling wide of either post in the first 10 minutes.

Clara's first sight of goal came via a quick breakaway from a Donegal Town corner  when their No 11 went through to fire at Byrne who stood tall to gather in the Town nets.

The opening goal came shortly after this when Cameron Crawford hit a long range distance strike that just dipped in under the bar giving the Clara keeper no chance.

The Clara ‘keeper kept the game from going 2-0 when he saved at point blank range from Cassidy after a brilliant pick out by Doherty.

Clara had a lot of possession in the final 10 mins of the half pulling a couple of long range strikes wide of the target.

The opening minutes of the second half  saw Clara come out strong and were through in goal only for  Daire O’Donnell to make a fabulous last ditch tackle and clear the danger.

Clara really upped the tempo but every effort to break the Town defence was thwarted by the strong  pairing of Amoo and Armstrong.

The boys started to regain a bit of composure after the opening minutes of the second half with Plunkett Molloy outstanding and Parsons taking control in the middle.


The Donegal Town FC and Clara FC teams pictured at The Hospital Field

The boys doubled the lead after good hold up play by Gee, who sent Cassidy through to make it 2-0, and the provider turned goalscorer minutes after to make it 3-0 and put the boys in a great position going into the final 15mins.

Senan Gallagher almost made it 4 after his introduction as he was denied by a great save from the Clara keeper.

The boys saw out the end of the game without too much danger to progress to the club’s first ever All Ireland final.

Well done to Clara Town who played their part on a fabulous achievement  reaching the last four in Ireland but it just wasn't to be for them on the day.

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A lot of thanks to go out to so many at Donegal Town FC. Our chairman Raymond and his team who spent hours all week getting the field in to impeccable condition considering the weather challenges they faced; Seamus Mc Gowan and Daytona Haulage sponsoring match officials;  Seamus Hannafin sponsoring a match ball; our top coach Joe Rodden and the  Brew Box sponsoring after match pizzas for both teams;  all our supporters who really got behind the boys, and most of all, the mammies or "The Ultras" as they like to be known as, led by mammy Eithne for all the teas/coffees sandwiches and contributions.

The boys will now face Tullamore in the SFAI Trophy final in the weekend 9th/10th May.