Unbeaten St Eunan's beat Cloughaneely to stay on top of Division 1

St Eunan’s maintained top spot in the All-County Football League Division 1 following their victory over Cloughaneely.

St Eunan’s 1-16 Cloughaneely 0-8

With the rear of O’Donnell Park dotted with tents from the rally weekend and the sounds of revs punctuating the air, on the field it was business as usual for Rory Kavanagh’s side following a draw in Kilcar in their previous outing.

At half-time, St Eunan’s lead Cloughaneely by 0-11 to 0-2, having scored the first nine points of the contest. They hit their groove early with Conor O’Donnell clipping over the first two points and then Eoin McGeehin helped himself to a couple of points, both of which came from respective dinked balls in from Kieran Tobin and then Eoin Dowling.

The home side pressed on with O’Donnell and then Kevin Kealy scoring to make it 0-6 to 0-0, although it took a fine goalline clearance from Dowling to keep out a Cathal McGeever shot after John Fitzgerald’s initial effort at a point was partially blocked by Conor Parke.

David Boyle then added three on the bounce for St Eunan’s and the visitors finally got on the board when Fitzgerald put over the first of two frees on 28 minutes. But it was O’Donnell and Boyle who rounded off the first half scoring, each scoring their fourth point of the match.

Ciaran Moore opened the scoring in part two and Cloughaneely were dealt a blow when Blake McGarvey was forced off injured and his team then put three on the spin wide of the uprights. Moore, from a 40th-minute attack, scored his second of part two and St Eunan’s were 0-13 to 0-2 ahead.

Paul Sweeney added two scores for Cloughaneely, firstly from a mark and then after Eoin O’Boyle in the St Eunan’s goal tipped a Fitzgerald penalty on 42 minutes onto the top. Pat Barrett, the match referee, gave the award following a foul by Kieran Tobin on Cillan Gallagher.

Eoin McGeehin slotted home a penalty for St Eunan’s on 48 minutes after Darren McGeever’s foul on Boyle, either side of Cloughaneely points from Darren Ferry and Michéal McHugh. With 10 to play, amid the occasional summer shower, St Eunan’s were 1-14 to 0-6 up.

Fitzgerald, for Cloughaneely, hit his side’s seventh point, while Conor O’Donnell added two late scores, the second of which was a belt at goal that was well turned over by Cloughaneely goalkeeper McClafferty. Ferry’s second point for Cloughaneely was the last score of the day, just as the heavens opened with thunder rumbling in over Letterkenny.

St Eunan’s scorers: Conor O’Donnell 0-6, 2f; David Boyle 0-4, 2f; Eoin McGeehin 1-2, 1-0 pen, 2m; Ciaran Moore 0-2; Kevin Kealy and Dylan Doogan 0-1.
Cloughaneely scorers: John Fitzgerald 0-3, 2f; Paul Sweeney 0-2, 1f; Darren Ferry 0-2, Michéal McHugh 0-1.

St Eunan’s: Eoin O’Boyle; Kieran Tobin, Sean McGettigan, Conor Parke; Noel O’Donnell, Eoin Dowling, Peter Devine; Jordan O’Dowd, Darragh Mulgrew; Kevin Kealy, Conor O’Donnell, Ciaran Moore; David Boyle, Ronan McGeehin, Eoin McGeehin. Subs: Dylan Doogan for Kealy (43), Anthony Gallagher for Devine (46), Eamonn Doherty for O’Dowd (50)
Cloughaneely: Shaun McClafferty; Cian McFadden, Ciaran Scanlon, Sean Geeney; Cormac Coyle, Mark Harley, Darren McGeever; Ethan Friel, Cathal McGeever; Blake McGarvey, Darren Ferry, Ciaran Coll; John Fitzgerald, Paul Sweeney, Cillan Gallagher. Sus: Michéal McHugh for McGarvey (35), Shaun Maguire for Sweeney (51), Shaun Curran for Friel (55)
Referee: Pat Barrett (Milford).