Under-20s falter against an impressive Donegal side

Donegal 3-16 Tyrone 0-17

REIGNING All-Ireland Champions Tyrone hit their first bump in the road in last Wednesday’s group stage defeat to an on-song Donegal side on an idyllic evening in Ballybofey.

Firstly, we’ll head straight into the repercussions. Donegal have topped the table and have earned themselves a place in the semi-finals of the Ulster Championship, and on the evidence of their performance against Tyrone, they’ll take some stopping.

The Red Hands, meanwhile, still have one group stage match to fulfill – this coming Wednesday’s home tie against Antrim against Saffrons – but that match is fairly irrelevant and Tyrone will need to win an extra match to make it back to the provincial summit with a quarter-final clash in the pipeline. Not what they wanted, but not the end of the world either.

There’s a real back-to-the-drawing-board feel about this particular result.

Tyrone weren’t at the races and could have no complaints about the margin of defeat, though perhaps it will stand to them in the long run – that’s the hope anyway.

The defining period of the game was a five-minute spell in the first-half where Donegal blitzed the visitors for 1-6 without reply.

The 23rd minute goal came courtesy of Naomh Conaill lad Mark McDevitt and he more or less did all the donkey work by himself before neatly tucking home, but at the heart of their purple patch otherwise was their Four Masters contingent – the rampant Donegal Town-based outfit that have won back-to-back Ulster Minor Championships.

Conor McCahill, who was in tremendous form, knocked over two fine points from play in-a-row diuring that purple patch (albeit the first looked touch-and-go in terms of whether it actually finished inside the posts). Kevin Muldoon registered a two-pointer with a superb free from distance, and Seanan Carr, such a lovely, tricky player, ghosted through the heart of the Tyrone defence to open up a 1-9 to 0-5 lead.

After a competitive enough opening 20 minutes, Donegal could call upon an eight-point cushion at the interval and they saw out the rest of the game with impressive assurance.

From the word go, it was apparent that Donegal were brimming with energy and drive, surging into a 0-3 to no score lead. They could’ve had a goal in the first minute, only for Carr electing to palm the ball over the bar with the goal at his mercy. Shane Callaghan tagged on a free before McCahill found the target, his first of the evening and not the last.

Tyrone, who were operating without Eoin McEholm who was unavailable, started to work their way into proceedings.

McElholm’s Loughmacrory clubmate Ruairi McCullagh popped over a settling free before squeezing over an eye-catching score after excellent build-up play from Callum Daly and Conor O’Neill.

Donegal had set up shop at the back – blanket defences haven’t gone away y’know – though Tyrone had some joy from ferrying the ball between the flanks before picking an opening, and further scores from Liam Óg Mossey (a peach with the outside of his boot) and corner-back Conor Devlin.

That was about as good as it got for Tyrone for the remainder of the half, however, as Donegal ruthlessly assumed control of the contest with a scoring burst, including their first goal of the game, to open up a 1-10 to 0-5 lead the break.

Tyrone introduced two subs for the start of the second-half – Caolan Donnelly and Eoin Donaghy – and they were a more determined outfit in general after the break, though an unenviable task was made even more onerous when McCahill unleashed an unstoppable shot to the roof of the net only two minutes in.

The Red Hands enjoyed a productive spell in front of the posts, midfielder Conor O’Neill clipping a two-pointer while Darragh Donaghy and Caolan Donnelly popped up with well-taken scores to leave a more manageable six points between the teams.

However, Donegal were holding their own in the hotly contested middle sector and they were in unforgiving mood at the back, forcing a number of turnovers midway through the half.

There were further Tyrone scores from McCullagh (free) and Cónán Devlin but Donegal were able to maintain their supremacy on the scoreboard with superb breakway scores from Shane Callaghan and Mark McDevitt as the clock ticked into the final 10 minutes.

The scores came thick and fast at both ends of the pitch in the final stages, including a two-pointer from Tyrone sub Shea McDermott and McCullagh’s latest free.

However, Donegal rubbed salt in the wound with their third goal of the evening, Dylan Mulholland getting on the end of a pass across goal to leave the scoreboard reading 3-16 to 0-15.Tyrone got the final score with a Conor O’Neill free from outside the arc and now they’ll seek to learn the lessons from a tough day at the office as they switch their focus to Wednesday’s match against Antrim and a subsequent Ulster Championship quarter-final clash a week later.

Scorers

Donegal: Conor McCahill (1-4), Seanan Carr (0-5, 0-3f), Shane Callaghan (0-4, 0-2f), Dylan Mulholland (1-1), Mark McDevitt (1-0) Kevin Muldoon (0-2, 2pt f)

Tyrone:  Ruairi McCullagh (0-5, 0-4f), Conor O’Neill (0-4, 2pt f), Noah Grimes (0-2, 0-1f), Shea McDermott (0-2), Caolan Donnelly, Cónán Devlin and Conor Devlin (0-1 each)

Teams

Donegal:  Padraig McBride, Aaron Neely, Niall Prenderville, Cathal Ó Gallchoir, Max Capmbell, Callum McCrea, Conor McGinty, Sean Martin, Kevin Muldoon, Mark McDevitt, David Monaghan, Seanan Carr, Conor McCahill, Daithí Gildea, Shane Callagham. Subs: Dylan Mulholland D Gildea, Fionn Coll for Callaghan, Ruairi Callaghan for McCahill, Jack Gallagher for McDevitt

Tyrone: Conor McAneney, Shane McCaul, Ben Hughes,  Conor Devlin, Callum Daly, Joey Clarke, Fiachra Nelis, Cónán Devlin, Conor O’Neill, Conall Sheehy, Darragh Donaghy, Matthew Quinn, Noah Grimes, Ruairi McCullagh, Liam Óg Mossey. Subs: Caolan Donnelly for Nelis, Eoin Donaghy for Sheehy, Shea McDermott for Donaghy, Michael McElhatton for Grimes