Under 21s book county final place
Under 21 B football championship semi-final
19 October 2013
Aodh Ruadh 3-14
Red Hugh's 1-8
Image Gallery
Aodh Ruadh are back in a county under 21 final for the first time since 2002 following a 3-14 to 1-8 victory over Red Hugh's in the under 21 B championship semi-final in Donegal town last Saturday. It was a strong, physical game, which featured a lot of good football from both sides. Aodh Ruadh suffered a heavy blow early on when David McGurrin had to go off with a nasty injury after ten minutes. It was to prove a tight first half, but Ballyshannon made the most of their chances, while Red Hugh's were a little less clinical.
The Ernesiders got the first goal of the game through a spectacular effort from Jamie McDonald. He drove down the right sideline and held off heavy Red Hugh's tackling to lash in a real rasper of a shot. Niall Thomas was lurking in the area and the Killygordon keeper and full back were caught at sixes and sevens allowing McDonald's shot to find the back of the net. A contender for score of the game. McDonald, really stepping up to the plate in the absence of McGurrin, struck for another goal before the break to send Ballyshannon in leading on a scoreline of 2-6 to 0-3.
Aodh Ruadh got a dream start second half with a point followed by a goal line scramble which saw a Conor Patton effort end up in the net. Then Peter Boyle stepped up to a free over 50 metres out and hit a real peach which sailed over the bar with plenty of height still to spare. An inspirational score which seemed to knock the stuffing out of Red Hugh's. After that Aodh Ruadh were able to ease out the win.
There were a lot of excellent performances from the Ballyshannon men. Jamie McDonald led the line very well after the loss of David McGurrin. McGurrin's replacement, Ryan Granaghan, also did very well, hitting two superb points, one in each half. Ronan Drummond put in another fine shift hitting his fourth point of the season into the bargain, a nice effort from a tight angle. Ronan McGurrin gave an exhibition in midfield and finished with three points to his credit while Conor Patton also impressed in the engine room. The full back line were all excellent with Niall Harley adapting well to the corner back berth. Eddie Lynch had a great game too in half back.
Aodh Ruadh now await the winner of the Glenfin v Burt semi-final which is slated for next weekend. The only downbeat note was the injury to David McGurrin who now faces a race against time and is a major doubt for the final, should it take place the first weekend in November as anticipated.
| Vital Statistics |
|---|
| Teams |
|
Aodh Ruadh Peter Boyle (0-3); Matthew Maguire, Gary Carty, Niall Harley; Kieran Keown (0-1), Eamonn McGrath, Eddie Lynch Jr; Conor Patton (1-0), Ronan McGurrin (0-3); Niall Murray, Johnny Gethins (0-1), Ronan Drummond (0-1); Jamie McDonald (2-1), Niall Thomas (0-1), David McGurrin. Substitutes: Ryan Granaghan (0-2) for David McGurrin; Michael McNeely, James Barron, PJ Gillespie, Ruairí Drummond (0-1), Brianan Drummond, Daniel Kelly. |
Last modified: Monday, 1 June 2020 at 1:11pm