Donegal hammer Clare to secure top spot and week off

Peter Campbell Peter Campbell | 06-16 00:15

Donegal clinched top spot in their group with a comprehensive win over Clare - the third round game was something of a walk in the park for Donegal as Clare put up very poor opposition.

Donegal were relying on Tyrone to defeat Cork in the other tie in the group and the Red Hands did Donegal a big favour.

Donegal were well on their way to victory early in the first half. While Clare had the opening point from an Emmet McMahon free, they failed to raise another flag in the opening half, hitting three wide and three more into Shaun Patton's hands.

Donegal were up and running on five minutes when Shane O'Donnell did the spadework and Oisin Gallen found Ryan McHugh to fire to the Clare net.

They almost had a second goal two minutes later when Ciaran Thompson cut through.

After that it was a pointfest for the winners with some wonderful scores from Michael Langan, Peadar Mogan, Patrick McBrearty (3), Mark Curran, Oisin Gallen (2, one '45'), Ryan McHugh (2) and Ciaran Thompson.

Their half-time lead of 1-11 to 0-1 did not flatter them.

If Clare had any hopes of a miracle comeback it was put to bed inside five minutes of the restart as Oisin Gallen slid home a second Donegal goal.

From that moment to the finish most of the attention of Donegal supporters was on what was happening in Tullamore.

The news that Tyrone had taken the lead was greeted by a big cheer.

Donegal were able to bring in a range of substitutes with Conor O'Donnell marking his return with two points while man of the match Ryan McHugh chipped in with two more points.

Donegal now have two weeks to prepare for their All-Ireland quarter-final.

Donegal: Shaun Patton; Mark Curran (0-01), Brendan McCole, Eoghan Ban Gallagher; Ryan McHugh (1-04), Caolan McGonagle, Peadar Mogan (0-01); Ciaran Moore (0-01), Michael Langan (0-01); Shane O'Donnell (0-01), Ciaran Thompson (0-02), Odhrán Doherty; Patrick McBrearty (0-05), Oisin Gallen (1-04,0-02 '45'), Niall O'Donnell.

Subs: Conor O'Donnell (0-02) for M Curran (ht); Dáire Ó Baoill (0-01) for O Doherty (ht); Stephen McMenamin for E Ban Gallagher (42); Hugh McFadden for Langan (50); Kevin McGettigan for Mogan (58).

Clare: Tristan O'Callaghan; Manus Doherty, Cillian Brennan, Ronan Lanigan; Alan Sweeney Cillian Rouine, Ikem Ugweru; Brian McNamara, Michael Garry; Daniel Walsh, Dermot Coughlan, Gavin Murray; Ciaran Downes, Aaron Griffin, Emmet McMahon (0-04, 0-02f).

Subs: Diarmaid O'Donnell (0-01,f) for Downes (ht); Darren Nagle for Murray (43); James Curran for Walsh (47); Shane Griffin for A Griffin (49); Cian Burke for Ugweru (56)

Referee: Derek O'Mahony (Tipperary)

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.


ALSO READ

KSE-100 index closes at 81,459.29, up 997.95 points as investor optimism drives market

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) experienced a surge in investor optimism on Thursday, as the bench...

Gold prices in Pakistan reach new record of Rs268,500 per tola

Following a decline in the previous session, gold prices in Pakistan experienced a significant incre...

Number of clinical health staff increasing - Health NZ

Health officials have been marking the growth in the number of full-time clinical roles as evidence ...

Hazard mapping has 'chilling effect' on Nelson property market

Proposed hazard maps for Nelson are allegedly preventing properties across the city from being insur...

Woman called 'bad mum' after chasing down child stealer

A woman who stole an 18-month-old baby told the girl's mother she didn't deserve children when confr...

'Weak' case against diabetic driver thrown out by Australian court

A magistrate has criticised prosecutors as he threw out their "weak" case against a diabetic driver ...