Setanta’s rich vein of form continues against Buncrana in Donegal SHC

Goals win matches, and unbeaten Setanta hit three in the first half-which effectively decided this well-contested affair against a gritty Buncrana side on a balmy August Friday evening at The Cross.

Setanta 3-22 
Buncrana 0-17 

But, this was by far the powerful Finn Valley side’s greatest and most welcome test as they seek to retain their county title. 

And it was 17-year-old Oisin Marly who really stood out - he is not 18 until next week - hitting an impressive total of 2-6 and proving to be a real thorn for the battling Buncrana boys. 

Declan Coulter weighed in with 0-8, while Danny Cullen was quietly imperious in everything he did and got Setanta’s opening goal when ‘Crana keeper Tom Clare Jnr misjudged a bounced ball for a somewhat fortunate goal in the third minute. Richie Kee, Mark Callaghan and young Ruairi Campbell also had their moments. 

And while this was a totally deserved win for the home side, they will be a bit concerned about star wingback Niall Cleary who had to come off with a suspected broken thumb in an accidental clash. 

For an impressive Buncrana side, midfielder Jack O’Loughlin was simply superb, gliding like a gazelle and hitting a total of 0-12, 10 of which were frees. He was well supported by the imposing PJ McCarron, Oisin Grant and Dylan Duffy. 

Buncrana had to start without regular midfielder Paul Nelson and corner forward Darren Doherty who were late arriving due to unforeseen circumstances en route. Both came on after 14 minutes and by then Setanta had eased into a 1-5 to 0-3 lead. 

Coulter and Marley shared the bulk of the home side’s scores with Richie Kee getting the opening point. At times Setanta threatened a rout and Marley shot low and hard to the net in the 17th minute to put the winners into a 2-8 to 0-4 lead. 

It was left to O’Loughlin to reply for Buncrana and he did so with some well struck long range frees with Dylan Duffy also on target. But the real hammer blow for the visitors came in the 27th minute when the unstoppable Marley found the net again. 

That put Setanta ahead by 3-9 to 0-8 and they turned over, leading by 3-11 to 0-9 at the break. The visitors had the advantage of a very slight slope in the second half and O’Loughlin had the first three points of the second half-before Coulter opened Setanta’s account from a free. 

Coulter and O’Loughlin continued to trade points before Sam Doherty landed a fine side-line cut over the Setanta bar-one that Setanta and Donegal’s Gerard Gilmore would be proud of. 

Gilmore, Lafferty and Josh McGee were also on the scoresheet for Setanta. The men from the Cross led by 3-16 to 0-13 by the last water break. 

They put on a bit of a spurt in the final quarter hitting 0-6 with their persistent opponents hitting 0-4. An expected win for the home side in a game that only sparked to life in flashes. 

Setanta will be happy that they were given a reasonable test-but the score-line of 3-22 while not at full throttle is still very impressive. Buncrana will be reasonably happy too as they have a youthful but physically powerful team in central positions and they were missing four regulars. 

It would be wrong to dismiss enigmatic St Eunan’s, but on this showing Buncrana would seem to be the one team that could give Setanta a contest. Yet they still lost by 14 points and Setanta were minus Michael Donoghue.

Setanta: Ciaran Bellew: Mark Callaghan, Justin McBride, Denim Rowan; Shane Gallen, Danny Cullen (1-1), Niall Cleary; Richie Kee (0-1), Conor McGettigan; Gerard Gilmore (0-2), Oisin Marley (2-6,2f), Declan Coulter (0-8,7f), Ruairi Campbell, Josh McGee (0-2), Bernard Lafferty (0-2). Subs: Kevin Campbell for Niall Cleary (53), Jamie O’Reilly for Declan Coulter (56), Ryan for Ruairi Campbell (58) 

Buncrana: Tom Clare (Jnr); Aidan Stokes, Patrick Wilson, Conor Grant; James Pat Doherty (0-1), Paul Tourish, Caolan O’Neill; Jack O’Loughlin (0-11, 10f), Peter Grant; Sam Doherty (0-1 sideline cut), PJ McCarron (0-2), Oisin Grant (0-1); Dylan Duffy (0-1), Stephen Nelson, David Doherty. Subs Paul Nelson for Peter Grant and Darren Doherty for David Doherty (15), Peter Grant for Stephen Nelson (43), Kevin Vaughan for Paddy Wilson (53). 

Referee: James Connors (St Eunan’s)