Under-20 hurlers cruise to victory in Convoy

Donegal 2-8  Tyrone 7-8

SIZZLING Shea Monroe was the Tyrone hat-trick hero as the rampant Red Hands pulverised Donegal in a one-sided opening half to earn a most deserved victory at an icy Donegal GAA Centre in the Ulster Under-20 Hurling Shield opening round on Saturday.

The powerfully built Monroe broke Donegal hearts with three very well taken goals in the opening eight minutes which left Aidy Gaffey’s men struggling to catch up for the rest of the match.

For goals win matches as a forceful and pacey Tyrone side showed in an impressive victory over outgunned Donegal side.

The strongly built Monroe is one to watch and is definitely future Tyrone senior material as he tore through the home defence and hit the net. He was most ably assisted by powerful central figures like Francie Hurson, Finn Corry, Corey Bell and Finn Corry.

Tyrone’s tactic of running directly at the Donegal defence yielded rich dividends in the first half and they were not flattered by the nine points lead at the interval.

The Red Hands had an explosive start when a rasping shot from outstanding centre back Francie Hurson was well saved by Donegal keeper Joseph Patton.

However, the ball broke to Monroe who hammered the sliotar to the net.

Hurson followed up with a pointed free and Monroe rolled the ball into the net to propel Tyrone to a 2-1 to 0-0 lead by the sixth minute.

Donegal’ s John Kealy netted 15 seconds later but the irrepressible Monroe completed his hat-trick with a thundering shot to the net as Kyron McColgan got a disputed point for the home side.

Hurson pointed and then Finn Corry tore through the home defence and cracked home a great goal to leave Tyrone leading by 4-2 to 1-1 by the 20th minute.

Corner-forward Liam Griffith netted again and Hurson pointed, as Brendan Gaffey found his touch eventually from frees for Donegal as the visitors led by 5-3 to 1-5 at the break.

Donegal showed a lot more urgency in the second half as the scoring rated dropped considerably.

John Kealy opened the scoring with a point for the home side as Hurson responded in time.

Donegal suffered a blow when wing back Aidan McKinney limped off injured. Corry added another goal after Donegal ‘keeper Patton had pulled off another great save.

Tyrone sub Donnachadh O’Neill got the final goal for the Red Hands as both sides ran their benches.

Donegal hit three points in this half from Gaffey and sub Eoghan Walsh. They did manage to find the net five minutes from time when Matthew Callaghan hit the net.

But it was only token in the general scheme of things as Tyrone eased to a most impressive victory.

Teams & Scorers

Donegal: Joseph Patton; Oisin Kerr, Cormac Hanlon, Oran Lafferty; Jacob Malone, Shane Ellison, Aidan McKinney; Donal Farrelly, Sean Brady Devenney; Matthew Callaghan (1-0), Brendan Gaffey (0-5,f) Daire Tully; Kyron McColgan (0-1), Neil Ó Baoighill, John Kealy (1-1). Subs: Conor Murphy for Hanlon (26 mins), Fionn Farren for Tully (39 mins), Eoghan Walsh (0-1) for Ó Baoighill (40 mins).

Tyrone: Odhran McMurray; Aidan Gormley, Conor McCrystal, Michael Coyle; Ruairi O’Sullivan, Francie Hurson (0-5,3fs) Cillian Kerr; Kevin Hegarty, Finn Corry (2-1); Conor Doherty, Corey Bell, Eunan Campbell; Liam Griffith (1-1), Pierce Mullin, Shea Monroe (3-1). Subs; Donnchadh O’Neill (1-0) for Conor Doherty (Half-time), Oran Keyes for M.Coyle (49 mins), Seanie Munroe for O’Sullivan (49 mins).

Referee: Derek Argue (Cavan)