St Michaels took on Red Hugh’s in O’Donnell Park Letterkenny, in the All County Division 2 Minor final, in what was a replay of the Northern Divisional final of 3 weeks ago, where the Killygordon men had proved victorious.
St Michaels started the brighter with Michael Langan stroking over a fine score from distance almost from the throw in.
He quickly followed this up with 2 more points before Red Hugh’s got of athe mark with a penalty after a foul in the large rectangle after a high ball from a free wasn’t dealt with by the St Michaels full back line.
The response from the boys in red and white was almost immediate as Ciaran McGinley put over a great point before Michael Langan, after being found by Chris Durning, charged towards the Red Hugh’s goal before unleashing a ferocious shot into the top corner.
Mark Stewart then chipped in with a point before Red Hugh’s got two more pointed free’s.
Michael Langan rounded of the half with another fine score, to leave the half time score 1-6 to 1-2.
The second half started in a similar vein to the first with Ciaran McGinley getting the reward for his intelligent runs with another superb point.
That score would prove to be the last for a while as Red Hugh’s began to dominate possession.
Their midfield began to get the upper hand and a comeback looked on the cards but for all their possession they could only tack on one more pointed free as the rock solid St Michael’s defence stood firm. Chris Carr made a fine run from half back to pop over another score.
The Creeslough/Dunfanaghy men made some changes (some forced) with 10 minutes to go and the fresh legs were invaluable as Dylan Doherty pointed after some neat play, before Langan again found himself in space 20 yards out, the crowd urged him to take his point but he spotted Eoghan Kelly inside and played a wonderful pass.
Kelly showed great composure as he stroked the ball past the advancing keeper.
Langan, rather fittingly, rounded of the scoring with another fine point. Leaving the scoreline 2-11 to 1-3.
There were loud cheers from the large crowd that had made the short trip to Letterkenny from the Creeslough/Dunfanaghy area as captain Ciaran Kelly held the cup aloft.
It was a great team performance from all those involved and it was a delighted team bus that traveled back through the Gap.
Congratulations to the team and management on this great achievement and commiserations to the Red Hugh’s team on their valiant effort.
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