St Eunan's run in comfortable victory over MacCumhaill's in Donegal SHC

A well-drilled and fitter St Eunan’s side eased to victory in the second half against Sean MacCumhaill’s in the second series of fixtures of the Donegal SHC at O’Donnell Park.

St Eunan’s 2-23 Sean MacCumhaill’s 2-6

Russell Forde and Matt Ahern grabbed the goals in each half while Gavin Browne and Jamie De Ward replied in kind for the Twin Town sides in a generally well-contested affair.

St Eunan’s also had matchwinners in outstanding centre-back Sean McVeigh, who had a great tussle with Gavin Browne.

Darting midfielder Brian MacIntyre found the time and the space to strike some exquisite long-range points in the second half for the home side.

The raw power, pace and finish of centre forward Kevin Kealy was also a big factor as the Letterkenny team got back on track following their opening round loss against Setanta.

Kealy eased Eunan’s into an early lead which was cancelled by a fine effort from MacCumhaill’s Lee Henderson.

The home side then put on a spurt with a string of points from Kealy, MacIntyre, Gavin Forde and Russell Forde to canter into a 0-8 to 0-1 lead.

Henderson got the visitors' second point before Gavin Browne pounced on a mistake by St Eunan’s defence to ram a home a goal against the run of play in the 20th minute.

PJ Browne added a point from a free and Forde was also on target for the home side as they led by 0-10 to 1-3 at the break.

For all their possession, it was a paltry lead for the home side as they turned over with renewed vigour on the resumption.

St Eunan’s threw on Calvin Aidoo for Gavin Forde after the break. But it was the lively MacIntyre who hit two snappy points from play to set the tone for the rest of the half.

Gavin Browne did hit a point in response but it took all of Justin McGee’s vast experience in the Twin Towns team’s goal to save a point-blank effort from Russell Forde.

McVeigh and MacIntyre were dictating matters and hit long-range points as did Matt Ahern to push St Eunan's into a 0-16 to 1-4 lead by the 40th minute.

PJ Browne pointed a free for Sean MacCumhaill’s but McIntyre responded with two rapid points

And this was followed by a goal from Forde after Kealy’s initial shot was saved by keeper McGee to leave St Eunan's leading by 1-17 to 1-5.

The rest of the match was pretty much target practice for Eunan’s with a brief interruption from MacCumhaill's when Jamie De Ward fired a rocket to the Eunan’s to leave the score line at 1-19 to 2-6.

It was a brief respite as Eunan’s closed out the game with points from Ahern who also hit a cracking goal with the impressive Kealy getting the final point.

St Eunan's scorers: Russell Forde 1-4, 4f; Brian McIntyre 0-7; Matt Ahern 1-3; Kevin Kealy 0-5; Sean McVeigh, Conor Neely, Eoin Scanlon and Gavin Forde 0-1 each.
Sean MacCumhaill’s scorers: Gavin Browne 1-2; Jamie De Ward 1-0; Lee Hendeson 0-2; P J Browne 0-2, 2f.

St Eunan’s: Cian Hennessy; Lorcan Heavey, Conor McVeigh, Chris Murray; Sean Halvey, Sean McVeigh, Conor Neely; David Horgan, Brian MacIntyre; Fergal Delaney, Kevin Kealy, Matt Ahern; Gavin Forde, Eoin Scanlon, Russell Forde; Subs; Calvin Aidoo for Gavin Forde (h-time), Rory Doherty for Brian McIntyre (54), Johnny Lambe for Russell Forde (57).

Sean MacCumhaill’s: Justin McGee; Eoghan Wright, John Anthony Chambers, Kyle Tourish; Aaron Toner, Conor Griffen, Peter Byrne; P J Browne, Lee Henderson; Josh McGee, Gavin Browne, Dean Hannigan; Shane McMenamin, Ger Cunningham, Jamie De Ward. Subs; Anthony Patton for Ger Cunningham (15), Orin McDermott for Shane McMenamin (22).

Referee: Eddie Nash (Na Magha)