There were no Olympic medals but August was still a special month for Donegal sport as the county had four competitors at the global games in Rio.
Letterkenny’s Sinead Jennings finished sixth in the Lightweight Double Sculls Final with her partner Claire Lambe. Milford man Brendan Boyce crossed the line in a highly respectable 19 th place in the 50k Race Walk Final in a time of 3:53:59. After getting through his first heat there was disappointment for Letterkenny’s Mark English who failed in his bid to reach the 800m Final in Rio.
The reigning Overall Donegal Sports Star Awards winner came close though finishing fifth but it was only the top four who qualified for the final. And last but not least Chloe Magee became the first Donegal sports person to take part in three Olympic Games’ but the Raphoe woman who was drawn in a tough group was unable to advance to the knock-out stages.
Those achievements rightly put Jennings, Boyce, English and Magee on the list of sporting highlights in the Donegal.
Sports Star Awards August review
Dungloe man PJ Gallagher also had a memorable month as he captained Ireland who came out on top for the first time ever in the Indoor Short Mat at the 2016 Bowls Trader World Cup in Birmingham after beating Sweden 5-1. Gallagher, a member of the Burtonport Bowling Club, was the only member of the Irish team to win all five of his games at the tournament.
There was a huge success for Glenties man Kieran McDyre who won gold at the European Surf Kayak championships in France in the ‘High Performance’ category. Letterkenny 24/7 Triathlon club member Margaret Kelly qualified for the World Championships after finishing sixth in her category at the European Championships in Weisbaden, Germany.
The global finals take place in Tennessee, USA next year. In early August, Lifford/Strabane A.C. member Brendan O’Donnell won the Hammer while competing for Ireland at the International Celtic Games in Swansea. And Gweedore’s Fodhia McFadden, representing her country for the first time, won the Women’s Triple Jump with a new Personal Best of 11.08m in Swansea.
Finn Valley’s James Kelly took the English U17 Shot Putt title with a throw of 16.64m in Bradford. In motorcycling Kilmacrennan’s Rhys Irwin managed magnificent three podium finishes from four races at the Superteens UK Asprilia Championships in Rockingham. Rhys and his older brother Caolan made another mark in the race history books when becoming the first two brothers to occupy the elusive poles position for their respective races. Later in the month Rhys Irwin took his seventh UK win in Round 6 of the British Superteens Aprilia Championship at the International
Angelsea Race track, Wales. As a result of his successes in 2016 he is the youngest of five Irish riders chosen to go forward for the ‘Young Irish Rider of the Year”.
The reigning Donegal Sports Star ‘International Achievement’ award winner Brett McGinty won his eighth Irish juvenile boxing title after his Welterweight Final against Paul Ryan from the Bay City Club in Dublin was stopped in the third round with the St. Johnston lad being declared the winner by TKO. Carrigart man Hugh Gallagher won four gold medals at the Irish Masters Athletics Championships in Tullamore.
The 91-year- old’s successes came in the Shot Putt, Discus, Javelin and Long Jump. Donegal’s Minor All-Ireland title bid came to a disappointing end losing 2-12 to 1-11 against Galway at Croke Park. In the middle of the month Sean Devenney and Eamonn Harkin from the Northwest Snooker Club in Lettereknny were members of the Republic of Ireland team who took part in the World U18 Championships in Mol, Belguim.
Killybegs man Shaun Kelly was a member of the Limerick F.C. side that clinched the League of Ireland Division 1 title and promotion to the top flight thanks to a 3-2 win over UCD at the Belfield Bowl with six games still remaining. The Donegal Derry Vipers won the Irish American Football Section 2 Championship by defeating the Wexford Eagles 33-29 at the Westsmantown Youth RFC grounds in Dublin. Dunlewey girl Amanda Gallagher won the Irish U16 Time Trial Championship in Kanturk, Co. Cork for the third consecutive year. Amanda also won silver medals in the Road Race and Criterium.
Rosses A.C’s Ciaran McGonagle won the Donegal Marathon in a time of 2.41.15 while Catriona Jennings was first in the women’s section at 2.53.14. It turned out to be a unique double for the Jennings family as sister Sinead, just nine days after competing at the Rio Olympics, was first in the Half Marathon (1.23.40) and Letterkenny A.C.’s Pauric Breslin won the men’s category here.
In the middle of August the Donegal senior ladies put up a big performance but lost 1-13 to 2-7 to Dublin in the All-Ireland quarter-final tie played at Pearse Stadium in Longford. On the first day of the month Michael Naughton’s side had caused a shock by defeating Galway 3-15 to 4-11 despite being short a handful of key players win. Meanwhile their male counterparts bid for All-Ireland glory ended on the quarter-final stage at Croke Park where reigning champions Dublin progressed to thanks to a 1-15 to 1-10 victory over Rory Gallagher’s side despite ending the match with just 13 players on the pitch. In the sport of Mind Games Kilmacrennan’s Jonathon Peoples won the Ulster Chess Championship’s Intermediate Section at the Europa Hotel in Belfast.
Early in the month the 2014 Donegal Sports Star ‘Motorsport’ Award winners Declan and Brian Boyle in their Fiesta WRC won the Tipperary Rally in Clonmel convincingly by 34.7 seconds from Alastair Fisher and Gordon Noble. In motorcycling on round seven of the British Superbike Championships at Brands Hatch, Kilmacrennan’s Richard Kerr had a fantastic fourth place finish on the Sunday after crashing out on the previous day meaning a marathon ten hours rebuilding the bike.
It was a miserable month for Finn Harps who suffered three successive defeats when going 2-0 to Shamrock Rovers and 5-0 to Derry City both in Ballybofey and 2-0 to Bohemians at Dalymount Park. The Lagan Ladies retained the Donegal Senior Women’s League title with a 3-0 victory over Bonagee Utd at the Dry Arch.
In endurance sport Siobhan Gallagher from the Letterkenny 24/7 Triathlon Club was third in Category 1 race and Finn Begley was fourth in the Olympic National Series in Hazelwood, Co. Sligo.
For more information on the Donegal Sports Star Awards go to www.donegalsportsstarawards.ie or visit us on Facebook at Donegalsports Starawards.
Tags: