Donegal U-20 get their championship off and running with win over Cavan

Donegal 2-15 Cavan 0-16
It was a welcomed return for Shaun Paul Barrett to the Donegal inter-county scene as his U-20 side got their first win in the championship despite making tough work for themselves against Cavan in an intense battle in Breffni Park. 

Donegal landed a dream start in the second minute when Oisin Caulfield broke the Cavan line of defence to play a long hand pass over the wall which found Seanán Carr on the receiving end who slotted off his right into the bottom corner of the net. 

The home side immediately responded with a score on their first attack when centre-half forward Oliver McCrystal nailed over under pressure in superb fashion. 

The Breffni captain Darragh Lovett would narrow the gap back to one point when he landed his first score but for the next 10 minutes Donegal took full control with many thinking the game was already over in the opening quarter. 

The away side would land the next five scores with KJ Molloy sending a high free over, but Donegal’s pressure on the opposition kick-out was too much for goalkeeper Liam Bell to withstand with Conor McGinty and Caulfield both hitting points from winning possession on the kick-outs. 

Donegal could’ve had their second goal on the 15th minute when Luke McGlynn fired a beautiful diagonal ball into full-forward Patrick McElwee, but the Downings man opted for a point.  

He followed up this score seconds later when again possession was secured in midfield which allowed McElwee the space inside to win primary ball and slot over to make it 1-7 to 0-2 points. 

Despite McGlynn landing the next two points, Cavan attempted to keep their intensity high with danger man Lovett leading the way. The inside forward nearly gifted Cavan their first goal when he stormed through the Donegal defence but poorly struck the ball straight at goalkeeper Damien McGowan to his frustration. 

Things would go from bad to worse for Cavan when Donegal landed their second goal on the cusp of half-time after McElwee’s long-range shot landed into the hands of ‘keeper Bell only for the netminder to drop the ball as it hit off his knee and rolled into the net in what looked like slow-motion.  

McElwee would hit one more point before the break to bring his half-time tally to 1-3, while Lovett would have the final say of the half as he split the posts from a dead ball to leave it 2-9 to 0-7 points. 

Cavan would start the better of the two teams in the second-half with full-forward Daire Madden landing a point under pressure.  

Donegal nearly had their third goal when McGlynn chiped a ball over the heads of the Cavan defence leaving corner-back Donal Gallagher inside, but the defender opted to fist for a point. 

Lovett would again cut the gap with four points from dead ball, as he began to exploit the discipline of the Donegal defence, but Molloy would keep two goals between the sides with a point of his own. 

Entering the final 10 minutes of the match Lovett would narrow the gap to four points as he fired over his ninth score of the night leaving it for an intriguing ending to this encounter. 

As the rain began to fall over the Breffni County, substitute Cian Keaney would put three points between the teams with what looked to be the score of the night as he floated it off his left from long range. 

With two minutes of normal time remaining and Cavan now down to 14 men after losing Evan Crowe to a second yellow, Carr would point a crucial score to ease the lead for Donegal. He followed this up by winning possession and nailing a long kick pass into an unmarked McGlynn who split the posts.  

McGlynn nailed his fifth of the night in the dying minutes to secure a victory for the away side in Breffni Park. 

Scorers – Donegal: Patrick McElwee 1-3; Luke McGlynn 0-5 (1f) Seanán Carr 1-1; KJ Molloy (1f) 0-3; Oisin Caulfield, Donal Gallagher, and Conor McGinty 0-1 each. Cavan: Darragh Lovett 0-9 (7 fs, 1M); Lorcan Reilly (1M) and Cian Keaney (1f) 0-2 each; Daire Madden, Oliver McCrystal and Ryan Tobin 0-1 each. 

Donegal: Damian McGowan; Cormac Gallagher, Niall Prendiville, Donal Gallagher;Finn Coll, Finbarr Roarty, Karl Magee; Oisin Caulfield, Conor Reid; Conor McGinty, Luke McGlynn, Seanán Carr; KJ Molloy, Patrick McElwee, Eoghan Kelly. Subs: Luke Clerkin for Prendiville (26 mins); Seán Martin for Magee (52 mins); Daithí Gildea for Molloy (54 mins); Adam McGeever for Carr (60 mins) 

Cavan: Liam Bell; Dylan Maguire, Eoghan Hartin, Oran Daly, Kyle McCabe, Evan Crowe, Ben McGahern; Matthew Costello, Ryan Tobin; Thomas Partington, Oliver McCrystal, Lorcan Reilly; Barry Donnelly, Daire Madden, Darragh Lovett. Subs: Cian Keaney for Partington (Half-time); Jensen Tynan for Maguire, Dylan Edwards for Costello, Michael Smith for McGahern (all 41 mins) 

Referee: Shane Murphy (Armagh)