Buncrana Cup success for Tyrone U16s

Donegal 0-15

Tyrone 4-10

TYRONE Under-16s proved far too strong for hosts Donegal in the Buncrana Cup Final at the Scarvey on Saturday afternoon.

Tyrone full-forward Ruairi McCullagh had a day to remember as he scored 4-2.

After a slow start, Donegal finished the first half well and were five in arrears at half-time.

However, Tyrone quickly put the game out of reach at the start of the second half, and were never in any danger in the final quarter.

Donegal were impressive in their semi-final against Monaghan, while Tyrone came into the decider on a high after beating Dublin.

Tyrone started very well and they grabbed a goal in the third minute.

The Red Hands earned a free on the 13 metre line and when everyone was expecting Ruairi McCullagh to tap over the bar, the young attacker had other ideas and cleverly smashed the ball to the net.

Matty McNally and Conor Devlin added points to Tyrone’s tally before Tiernan Ward got Donegal off the mark in the ninth minute.

Donegal goalkeeper Daniel McDaid made a great save to deny Matthew Howe a goal before McCullagh and Shane Callaghan swapped frees.

Tyrone were moving the ball much more slickly than their opponents and Turlough Muldoon and Kelvin Nelson fired over before McCullagh hammered in a goal from close range.

Donegal started to up their game after that Callaghan and Luke Clerkin both pointed.

Howe dissected the posts before Darragh Hennigan forced a ball over the bar and the busy John James Sweeney landed three points in quick succession.

McDaid was called into action late in the half to make a good stop from McCullagh but Nathan Farry did convert the resulting ’45’ and Tyrone were 2-7 to 0-8 ahead at the break.

Donegal’s cause wasn’t helped when they lost their towering midfielder Lorcan McGee after he got injured from the throw in.

McCullagh and Dylan Mulholland swapped scores before Tyrone grabbed their third goal.

Once again that man McCullagh did brilliantly to turn his marker and finished smartly to the roof of the net.

Finbar Roarty slotted over for Donegal but their defence was exposed again in the 36th minute and McCullagh palmed home from McNally’s dangerous diagonal ball.

Ward’s side kept going and Sweeney added another fine point, while Callaghan kicked a brace of frees.

However, Tyrone knew what they had to do and while they only added points from Nelson and Leo Hughes in the final twenty minutes, they stood firm defensively.

Johnny McBride and Jack Hegarty kicked points for Donegal but they really needed goals, and they couldn’t find them.

In the end, they had to settle for second place as Tyrone claimed the spoils.

Teams & Scorers

Donegal

Daniel McDaid; Daniel McMenamin, Conan Brannigan, Callum McCrea; Eoghan Scott, Finbar Roarty (0-1), Luke Clerkin (0-1); Lorcan McGee, John James Sweeney (0-4); Darragh Hennigan (0-1), Tiernan Ward (0-1), Philip Doherty; Shane Callaghan (0-4, 3fs), Thomas Roache, Jack Hegarty (0-1). Subs: Oisin Scanlon and Dylan Mulholland (0-1) for Doherty and Roache (Half-time), Johnny McBride (0-1) for Hennigan (40 mins), Oisin Doherty and Donal Gallagher for McGee and Ward (43 mins), Aidan Friel for McMenamin (45 mins), Terence McGovern for Clerkin (47 mins).

Tyrone

Aidan Woods; Brian Gallagher, Sean Broderick, Conor Devlin (0-1); Matty McNally (0-1), Aidan Colton, Nathan Farry (0-1, 1 45′); Conor O’Neill, Sheehan Fay; Leo Hughes (0-1), Matthew Howe (0-1), Liam Lawn; Kelvin Nelson (0-2), Ruairí McCullagh (4-2, 1f), Turlough Muldoon (0-1). Subs: Liam Corry for Lawn (Half-time), Aidan Hegarty for Nelson (51 mins), Tommy Taggart for McNally (54 mins), Eoin O’Neill for Muldoon (56 mins), James McCann for Howe (60 mins), Cathair Logue for Gallagher (60+2 mins).

Referee: Seamus McGonagle (Aodh Ruadh)