Dún na nGall Club Championship Latest

Last weekend was a busy one for Donegal GAA with two senior football semi-finals, two intermediate football semi-finals and two Junior football quarter finals. This weekend there are six A Championship games – four hurling and two football – and all of them will be streamed.

The four big beasts of Donegal Club Football met in the Senior competition. On Saturday 12th September, beaten 2019 finalists and 2018 Ulster champions Gaoth Dobhair never quite got motoring against a stylish Kilcar outfit that got their revenge for last year’s semi-final defeat to the same opposition. Kilcar raced into an early lead with the first three scores of the game but by the end of the first quarter Gaoth Dobhair had more than pegged them back, leading by 1-02 to 0-03. The men in the blue and gold had it back to level scores at the break 1-03 to 0-06 and dominated the second half to run out 0-14 to 1-06 winners. The following day in Ballybofey it was a much tighter affair. With neither side ever leading by more than two points it was all square 0-08 each at the end of normal time. The main drama unfolded in extra time. St Eunans appeared to be edging towards victory leading by three points 0-12 to 0-09 half-way through the second period of extra time when a controversial goal resulting from a Leo McLoone challenge on Sean Patton levelled the match again. Minutes later a long range point from Naomh Conaill captain Ciaran Thompson put the men in blue ahead and into their fourth Dr Maguire final on the trot. The game will be played on Sunday 27th September in MacCumhaill Park, Ballybofey.

Extra-time, and a gale-force wind, were key features of the semi final in Killybegs where Aodh Ruadh overcame Naomh Columba to earn a place in the Intermediate final on Saturday 26th September. The men from Glencolmcille, having benefitted from the very strong wind, led by 0-07 to 0-02 at the break having looked much the sharper side. They also looked  the more accomplished outfit in the third quarter until an Aodh Ruadh goal brought the Ballyshannon side, who were six behind, within striking distance at 1-04 to 0-10 in the 15th minute. Aodh Ruadh were edging back when a Ryan Gillespie goal made it 1-10 to 1-06 with five minutes remaining but a late goal left it 2-08 to 1-11 at full-time. Naomh Columba lost their discipline in extra time and Aodh Ruadh squeezed into the final on a 2-10 to 1-12 scoreline. They will face Cloughaneely in the final. A penalty from Darren McGeever in the fourth minute left them at 1-01 before Buncrana, last year’s Junior champions, had troubled the scoreboard. And while the Inishowen side largely matched them score for score over the remainder of the game, and pulled themselves to within two points with a late spurt, they never managed to get the crucial goal that would have erased the early deficit – final score Cloughaneely 1-13 Buncrana 0-14.

In the Junior quarter-finals wins for Moville and Letterkenny Gaels saw them through to this weekend’s semi-finals. Moville take on Downings on Saturday evening in MacCumhaill Park at 8.00pm and Letterkenny Gaels play St Mary’s Convoy in O’Donnell Park on Sunday at 3.00pm. Both games are being streamed free to air on the Downings and Letterkenny Gaels Facebook pages.

There are four Hurling semi-finals this week, two Senior and two Junior. The semi-finals are being played as double-headers albeit with plenty of time between the games. The first of them is in O’Donnell Park on Sunday. The early game features newcomers An Clochán Liath (Dungloe) who are seeking to reach their first ever county hurling final. They impressed in the group stages topping their section to go directly to the semi-finals. Their opponents are Setanta B who defeated the other newcomers – Four Masters – in their quarter final. The senior semi-final pits reigning champions Setanta, who are unbeaten in 2020 to date, against their long time rivals, Burt. This game will be streamed on DonegalGAA.ie on a PPV basis with a charge of €5. The Junior semi-final will be available free to air on the Dungloe Club’s Facebook page.

The other two semi-finals are being hosted in Hibernian Park by the Burt club. First up is a repeat of last year’s Junior final with reigning champions Aodh Ruadh taking on Carn Domhnaigh. Carndonagh have already beaten Aodh Ruadh in the group stages but with the return of previously unavailable players the Ballyshannon club will be looking for a different result this time around. In the second Senior semi-final Buncrana take on St Eunans, having already beaten them in the group stages. Again, however, the earlier result is not necessarily the best guide as to who will come out on top. With Buncrana and Eunans both knocked out of the football championship their dual players will now be even more focused on their hurling committments. Both of these games will be streamed on DonegalGAA.ie on a PPV basis at a charge of €5.