Glenswilly, St Eunan’s through to decider

The RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta Donegal SFC final will be a local derby next Sunday with Glenswilly and St Eunan’s of Letterkenny winning their respective semi-finals.

Holders Glenswilly beat Naomh Conaill of Glenties in Letterkenny 0-10 to 0-8 with two injury time points from Oisin Crawford and Eamonn Ward.

Gary McDaid’s side, who led 0-4 to 0-3 after a defensively-minded first-half, lost captain Caolan Kelly to a red card three minutes from time for a late challenge on Stephen Molloy. However, the experience of the Foxhall outfit saw them over the line.

Michael Murphy kicked two excellent long-range frees for Glenswilly to keep their noses in front midway through the second-half but Naomh Conaill managed to get back on terms with a pair of Dermot Molloy scores to level. But with extra-time looming it was Glenswilly who prevailed.

St Eunan’s defeated St Michael’s under the floodlights in Ballybofey, 1-12 to 2-8. Maxi Curran’s team made the worst possible start when Brian McLaughlin slipped home a quickly-taken free from Colm McFadden for the opening goal on five minutes.

Although St Eunan’s steadied themselves, they still went in at the break 2-3 to 0-7 behind when Andrew Kelly scored a second goal for the Dunfanagy-based side, who then went out to four points in front with the first two scores of the second half.

Darragh Mulgrew’s wonderful goal, a cross-shot following a pass from Kevin Rafferty that skimmed the ground before nestling into Mark Anthony McGinley’s bottom corner on 38 minutes, got St Eunan’s back in the hunt. From there to the finish, both teams led as the balance of power shifted. But Conor Gibbons got what was to prove the winning score minutes from time.