Buncrana given plenty to think about by Carndonagh but take the points in SHC

Buncrana came out on top against their Inishowen neighbours Carndonagh in the Donegal SHC at the Scarvey on Friday.

Buncrana 1-17 Carndonagh 2-8

In a close game for the most part, the midfield duo of Caolan O'Neill and Jack O'Loughlin kept the scoreboard ticking over for Buncrana throughout the game and they managed to eke out a well-earned victory.

It was point for point early on with points from Dylan Duffy and Caolan O'Neill for Buncrana being cancelled out by a long-range Luke White free and an Eoghan Kelly point from play for Carn.

Buncrana added the next two from O'Neill and O'Loughlin, but after a long ball in by Caolan O’Neill dropped dangerously on Stephen Burns in the Carn goal, the ball which was subsequently batted out landed delightfully for an onrushing Oisin Grant to deliver the first goal of the game. Carndonagh hung on by the coattails despite playing with a strong breeze. Cathal Doherty and Luke White finished the scoring for the visitors while Caolan O’Neill continued his scoring spree.

The home side were 1-6 to 0-6 in front at half-time. Buncrana had the breeze on the restart, but it was Carndonagh who started the brighter, as a long ball played into Jack McLaughlin inside was caught perfectly and converted to the back of the net

From the resulting puckout, Luke White made it a two-point game and all to play for.
But it didn’t take long for Buncrana to regain their composure as scores from Jack O Loughlin, Darren Doherty and the prolific Caolan O Neill stretched that margin once again to five points.

The two free-takers traded points once again, but it was Carndonagh who were to get the next goal that created a grandstand last ten minutes. A Luke White free that dropped short on the Buncrana square caused confusion between the full-back line and goalkeeper and the sliotar found its way into the back of the net.

But similar to their meeting against Burt the previous week, it was another blank final ten minutes for the visitors as Buncrana got into their stride once again with Oisin Grant scoring a delightful score, Jack O Loughlin with his third and Fiachra Gill, who came on as a sub, completing the scoring and showing their experience of senior hurling in the last couple of years to finish out the game.

Buncrana scorers: Caolan O'Neill 0-8, 8f; Oisin Grant 1-1; Jack O'Loughlin and Dylan Duffy 0-3; Fiachra Gill and Darren Doherty 0-1.
Carndonagh scorers: Luke White 1-6,5f; Jack McLaughlin 1-0; Eoghan Kelly and Cathal Doherty 0-1.

Buncrana: Alan Lynam; Kieran Doherty, Declan McCarron, Anthony Brosnan; Ruari Doherty, Ruari Scott Peter Grant; Caolan O'Neill, Jack O'Loughlin; Mairtin Og Shields, Darren Doherty, Tom Clare; Oisin Grant, Tom Mitchell, Dylan Duffy. Subs: John Vaughan, Kevin Vaughan, Fiachra Gill.
Carndonagh: Stephen Burns; Conor Lafferty, Padraig Doherty, Ronan Brown; Shaun McCreanor, James Monagle, Ryan Davenport;Eoghan Kelly, Conor Fagan; Michael McCarron, Michael Noone, Darragh McCormick;Luke White, Cathal Doherty, Jack McLaughlin. Subs: Paul Kelly, Ben McDaid, Paddy Monagle, Emmet Lafferty, Mike Nelson, Matthew Porter

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