St Eunan's hold their nerve to finally see off Dungloe and land a 16th Donegal SFC

Three injury time points meant St Eunan’s won a record-breaking Donegal SFC title to leave Dungloe heartbroken.

The Letterkenny side were three up in the last minute when referee Ryan Walsh awarded a controversial penalty for Dungloe, against Oran Winston for an apparent tug on Shaun McGee, just as Ryan Connors was about to hit a free in.

It was Connors who stepped up to beat Shaun Patton from the spot, levelling it up at 1-10 to 1-10 some 30 seconds into injury time. However, whatever dissatisfaction St Eunan’s might’ve had, they didn’t let it show, keeping their composure to knock over points from Conor O’Donnell Snr, Ciaran Moore and Eoin McGeehin.

It ended with a 16th senior crown for St Eunan’s, overtaking Gaoth Dobhair at the top of Donegal’s roll of honour, with tears in their eyes when Kieran Tobin, their captain, mentioned they did it for the late Aidan McGlynn, “their statesman and friend” who passed away last month and whose name was emblazoned upon their jerseys since.

For long spells, there was little in it. In fact, it was Dungloe who had been the only one in front until Conor O’Donnell Jnr hit the opening goal. It was the first time in the match the Letterkenny side were in front and in a game of such small margins, was a huge score, putting St Eunan’s 1-5 to 0-5 ahead in the opening exchanges of the second half.

A cagey first period saw Dungloe lead four times, with St Eunan’s levelling on each occasion.

Aaron Neely opened the scoring following an excellent turnover from Aaron Ward at the other end of the field on seven minutes, with O’Donnell Jnr getting St Eunan’s going. That trend continued, with Dylan Sweeney, Conor Greene’s mark and a twice-brought-forward Ryan Connors free giving Dungloe a succession of one-point leads.

Those were systematically erased every time by Barry Meehan’s team, who saw Pauric Boyle, Ciaran Moore and O’Donnell Jnr restore parity.

Dungloe, playing in the first final since 1964 - although there was a Rosses Rovers amalgamation in the showpiece six years later - certainly hadn’t a semblance of stage fright.

They had dropped five balls into Shaun Patton’s hands and although they could certainly have been delighted with their opening half, they would’ve hoped that particular statistic wasn’t one that would come back to bite them. Seven second-half wides would, though.

With it 0-4 to 0-4 at the break, the more concerned looks on faces came from those of a black and amber persuasion at the tea queues.

Both teams had come through tense quarter and semi-finals, coming out on the right side of one-point margins on their way, with Dungloe pipping Glenswilly and St Michael’s and St Eunan’s getting the better of last year's finalists, Naomh Conaill and Gaoth Dobhair.

Danny Rodgers, the Dungloe goalkeeper, kicked a free - brought forward by referee Walsh - to edge Dungloe in front for the fifth time, with Niall O’Donnell free at the Town End St Eunan’s fifth equaliser.

Then came the goal. Niall O’Donnell’s effort at a point came down off the upright and Pauic Boyle was the first to react, quickly laying off for Conor O’Donnell Jnr to hit home on 36 to make, what was in the circumstances, a huge score.

The feeling was that now you’d really see what Dungloe were made of and a Connors free and a 54 by Rodgers showed they weren’t for wilting and were just one point behind with 15 to play.

But with the game becoming more stretched, Moore in particular and Niall O’Donnell were getting on the ball more and more. Both scored and St Eunan’s were managing to keep Dungloe at an arm’s length of three or so points.

That theory continued when Sweeney put over a great score from a tight angle, only for Aaron Deeney - having a fine game at the back having started on Daire Gallagher - to score for St Eunan’s. Greene and O’Donnell Jnr - who would end the day with 1-4 and the Peadar McGeehin award as man of the match - swapped points and so did Barry Curran and Kieran Tobin, the St Eunan’s captain.

A Connors’ free made it 1-10 to 0-10 and it was in the melting pot once the same player brought Dungloe on terms from the spot. That, though, would be the final act in their marvellous journey that brought the Rosses to a standstill, and St Eunan's composure and experience was there when they needed it most.

St Eunan’s scorers: Conor O’Donnell Jnr 1-4, 2f; Ciaran Moore 0-3; Niall O’Donnell 0-2, 1f; Pauric Boyle, Aaron Deeney, Kieran Tobin, Eoin McGeehin 0-1 each.
Dungloe scorers: Ryan Connors 1-2, 1-0, 2f), Dylan Sweeney, Danny Rodgers 0-2, 1f, 45; Conor Greene 0-2, 0-1; Aaron Neely, Barry Curran 0-1 each.

St Eunan’s: Shaun Patton; Aaron Deeney, Conor Morrison, Caolan Ward; Darragh Mulgrew, Conor O’Donnell Snr, Kieran Tobin; Eoin Dowling, James Kelly; Ciaran Moore, Shane O’Donnell, Kevin Kealy; Conor O’Donnell Jnr, Niall O’Donnell, Pauric Boyle. Subs: Eoin McGeehin for Dowling (34), Lee McMonagle for Boyle (46), Oran Winston for Mulgrew (53), Anthony Gallagher for O’Donnell Jnr (60+4)
Dungloe: Danny Rodgers; Jason McBride, Aaron Ward, Mark Curran; Barry Curran, Conor O’Donnell, Karl Magee; Darren Curran, Ryan Connors; Dylan Sweeney, Daire Gallagher, Matthew Ward; Aaron Neely, Conor Greene, Oisin Bonner. Subs: Shaun McGee for Bonner (42), Conor Diver for Greene (60), Noel McBride for M.Ward (60+5).
Referee: Ryan Walsh (Bundoran)