Clarkes sweep their neighbours aside

Dungannon 1-23  Donaghmore 0-16

DUNGANNON were good – really good – as they swept aside their neighbours Donaghmore in Division One on an idyllic Friday evening at O’Neill Park.

The reigning Division One champs have now made it three-from-three and while it’s still relatively early days, they looked in excellent condition and at times threatened to completely overrun their opponents, who to their credit kept on battling right to the bitter end.

There were a number of All-Ireland U20 winners on show, Donaghmore captained by Joey Clarke, Ben Hughes stationed at the back, and recent Tyrone senior call-up Conor O’Neill also lining out.

On the Dungannon side, Matthew Quinn, another member of Tyrone’s all-conquering All-Ireland U20 team, played a substantial role in their midfield supremacy on the night  alongside the likes of Kevin Barker and Conor McKee. Donaghmore just couldn’t gain any sort of foothold in the middle and that obviously didn’t help their case.

It was by no means the only factor in their defeat.. The Clarkes were in scintillating form up front pretty much from start to finish. Donaghmore couldn’t find a way to curtail speedsters Daiaigh and Ryan Jones, whose combined raids from deep posed no end of problems, while Paul Donaghy had an absolute field day, racking up 12 points across the hour.

He belted over four two-pointers, and he saved the best ‘til last, curling over an exquisite effort from all of 50 metres with the outside of the boot. He’s always been a prized asset, and perhaps even more so with long-distance shooting rewarded by the new rules.

The opening 15 minutes were nip and tuck, Donaghmore’s directness rewarded with two early scores courtesy of Ronan Cassidy before Dungannon levelled matters in one fell swoop with a two-pointer from James Quinn.

The visitors looked good and reasserted themselves with points from Clarke, who had ghosted forward, and Cormac McCann, but for more or less the remainder of the half, Dungannon were the more threatening side with Paul Donaghy working his magic in front of the posts.

He found his range with a two-point free, though Donaghmore’s Cassidy almost had the ball in the back of the net only for a very timely interception by David Walsh down the other end of the pitch. From the resulting counter, Paddy Quinn pointed for Dungannon.

It was entertaining stuff at this juncture with both teams going hell for leather, Donaghy nailing another two-point free before Ryan Cush showed commendable poise in front of the posts for Donaghmore’s latest score of the evening.

Donaghy was in his element, however, this time landing a two-pointer from play (his third two-pointer of the afternoon with only 22 minutes on the clock. Then a mere one-pointer, but what a one-pointer it was, Donaghy instinctively splitting the posts from a hugely unfavourable angle.

Dalaigh Jones moved the Clarkes into a 0-11 to 0-5 lead, though Donaghmore finished the half strongly with back-to-back scores from Cassidy and half-back Phillip Donnelly to leave it a bit more manageable at the half-time whistle.

It was a false dawn for the men from Donaghmore, however. Dungannon made hay with a unrelenting 10-minute purple patch the other side of half-time, Paul Donaghy was virtually unplayable, scoring the first three points of the second-half, and they plunged the dagger further with a supremely well-worked team goal, slammed to the net by James Quinn after attacking wizardry by Dalaigh Jones. 1-14 to 0-7, it was a long way back for Donaghmore.

The away team responded with a two-point free from Fergal Donaghy but they were still struggling to get their hands on the ball from restarts and Dungannon kept the pedal to the floor with further scores from Leo Hughes, the influential Lorcan Mallon and Paddy Quinn (a two-pointer).

With fewer than 20 minutes remaining, the game was as good as over, but Donaghmore didn’t throw in the towel and tagged on a few scores from Donaghy and Cush with sub Tiarnan Drayne making a positive impression up front.

Dungannon were playing the game on their terms, however, picking their openings at the opportune moment. Donaghy fired over a jaw-dropping point from way out the park, Kevin Barker got two late points, Ryan Jones’ ceaseless efforts were rewarded as he got his name on the scoreboard, and while Joey Clarke and Conor O’Neill also landed late points for Donaghmore, it was immaterial at that stage of the game. Dungannon’s unbeaten run remains intact and they look like they’ll be formidable opponents for any side.

Scorers

Dungannon: Paul Donaghy (0-12, 2 2pt f, 2 2pt, 1f), James Quinn (1-2, 2pt), Paddy Quinn (0-3, 2pt), Kevin Barker (0-2), Dalaigh Jones, Leo Hughes, Lorcan Mallon, Ryan Jones (0-1 each)

Donaghmore: Ronan Cassidy (0-4, 2f), Fergal Donaghy (0-4, 2pt, 2pt f), Joey Clarke (0-2), Conor O’Neill (0-2, 2pt), Ryan Cush (0-2), Cormac McCann and Phillip Donnelly (0-1 each)

Teams

Dungannon: Daire Martin, Ben Gormley, Darragh Skeffington, David Walsh, Dalaigh Jones, Adam Toner, Ryan Jones, Conor McKee, Kevin Barker, Leo Hughes, Lorcan Mallon, Matthew Quinn, James Quinn, Paul Donaghy, Paddy Quinn

Donaghmore: Cormac McCartan, Ben Hughes, Paul McCann, Joey Clarke, Phillip Donnelly, Peter McKenna, Sean Donaghy, Thomas McGuigan, Conor O’Neill, Johnny McKenna, Fergal Donaghy, Cormac McCann, Cormac Drayne, Ryan Cush, Ronan Cassidy. Subs: Tiarnan Drayne for C McCann, Shea Hamill for Hughes

Referee: Shane Meehan (Glenelly)