St Eunan's fight back in second half to win Division 4 title against Naomh Conaill

St Eunan’s powered home in the final 30 minutes to clinch the Division 4 league title in O’Donnell Park against Naomh Conaill. 

It was a case of what could’ve been for Naomh Conaill who led throughout the match and no doubt they will take a lot of lessons from this game come the time the championship rolls around. 

It looked like it was going to be the day for the boys in blue who were by far the better team in the first half, but once St Eunan’s took the lead on the 49th minute, it was a position they weren’t going to relinquish easily as they kept Naomh Conaill at arm's length down the home stretch as they saw the game out in style. 

St Eunan’s opened the scoring in the opening minutes with the Letterkenny veteran Conor Gibbons leading from the front with the full-forward tallying 0-6 on the day as he slotted over the first of the afternoon with Brian Drumm following suit. 

It took Naomh Conaill a while to settle into the game, but once they did, they started motoring, with Joe Kennedy firing over from distance to calm his side’s nerves with Noel Gavigan following suit with a close-in free to level matters. 

The game was Helter Skelter for large periods with both teams going at it, but no doubt both management teams were disappointed with the number of opportunities missed in the opening quarter. 

From being level at 0-2 each, Naomh Conaill found their groove as they kicked the next four points with Jack Boyle, Daithi Brown, and Sean Doherty with 0-2, all landing their names on the scoreboard. 

But Eunan’s failed to give in despite this pressure, as they crawled back to a two-point game, but Naomh Conaill kept their distance with Noel Gavigan raising the first green flag as he palmed home a long ball from Boyle into the back of the net to make it 1-6 to 0-4 with five minutes of the half remaining. 

However, Naomh Conaill failed to keep their concentration and composure as the Cathedral men powered back with a well-worked goal through the hands down the heart of the Naomh Conaill defence which finished with Eoin Doherty firing home.  

Two final points from Brown and Boyle put three between the sides before Brian Drumm fired over the final point of the half to leave it 1-9 to 1-7 at the break. 

Naomh Conaill had a fantastic chance to increase their lead at the start of the second half with a second goal but Robbie McDonald blasted the ball straight at goalkeeper Niall Forde to keep St Eunan’s in it. 

Brown would nail over another Naomh Conaill point on the 40th minute but this would be the last score the Glenties men would hit for 15 minutes as St Eunan’s turned up the gears and hit their purple patch. 

Conor Harley and Gibbons would inspire their side in the second half with long-range scores but it was Sam Harvey’s goal with 12 minutes remaining that proved to be the difference when a shemozzle in the square found the foot of the Eunan’s half-forward to toe-poke home to leave it 2-11 to 1-10. 

Naomh Conaill would battle hard but only found two more points through McDonald and Brown, as Eunan’s found pockets of space to exploit while their defence remained solid as they saw the game home to a five-point win. 

Scorers - St Eunan’s: Conor Gibbons 0-6; Sam Harvey 1-1, 1f; Eoin Doherty 1-1; Conor Harley 0-3, 3fs; Brian Drumm and Cian McMonagle 0-1 each. Naomh Conaill: Daithi Brown 0-4; Noel Gavigan 1-1, 1f; Sean Doherty and Jack Boyle 0-2 each; Robbie McDonald and Joe Kennedy 0-1 each. 

St Eunan’s: Niall Forde; Ruairí Kavanagh, Sean Breen, Thomas O’Donnell; Dara Morrison, Cormac Finn, Conor Harley; Brandon Jordan, Conal McGinley; Phillip Doherty, Eoin Doherty, Sam Harvey; Lorcan Harvey, Conor Gibbons, Brian Drumm. Subs: Cian McMonagle for Lorcan Harvey; David Horgan for Kavanagh; Eoin Farren for Drumm; Harry Blake for Eoin Doherty. 

Naomh Conaill: James Boyle; Ronan Breslin, Charlie McDonald, Aidan Gilroy; Cian Kelly, Jackie Chan, Conor Gildea; Jack Boyle, Joe Kennedy; Sean Doherty, Robbie McDonald, Daithi Brown; Noal Gavigan, Oisin Campbell, Callum Malone. Subs: Dermot Ward for Gilroy and Micheal Trimble for Campbell (both 42 mins); Adam Molloy for Gavigan (50 mins); Paul Molloy for Malone (56 mins).