Donegal hurlers lose in semi-final after eight-point lead slips

Superb Sligo turned in a magnificent second half display to edge out Donegal in a real thriller in sun splashed O’Donnell Park on Saturday.

Donegal 1-19

Sligo 1-20

Sligo moved into the Division 2B final after coming back from the brink against Donegal.

Padraig Mannion’s young men (ten of the squad are under-21) really came of age as they overturned an eight-point deficit on its head in a second half of sheer youthful exuberance, enthusiasm and no little skill which eventually proved too much for a much more experienced Donegal side.

For long periods it looked like Donegal’s edge in physique would just about see them through as they led by 1-9 to 0-6 at the break after previously leading by 1-8 to 0-3 after 23 minutes.

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It looked like Daire O’Maoileidigh’s fantastic eighth-minute goal would be enough to see the home side ease through.

It seemed as if Donegal had weathered a whirlwind Sligo comeback in the third quarter to lead by 1-17 to 0-15, 12 minutes from time.

Sligo’s man of the match Andrew Kilcullen batted a shot from impressive sub Rory Hannify to the net after Donegal keeper Luke White parried the rasping shot.

Kilcullen’s crucial strike narrowed Donegal’s lead to 1-17 to 1-15, and the remainder of the match was played at a frenetic pace as Sligo’s Joe McHugh swung over the winning point to huge cheers from the Sligo contingent.

Donegal got off to a flying start after just 10 seconds when Sean McVeigh whipped over a fine point from just over 70 metres.

Sligo hit back in a heartbeat with a fine point from Andrew Kilcullen and Kevin Gilmartin actually put them into a 0-2 to 0-1 lead before Donegal struck with deadly effect in the seventh minute.

Luke White hit a monster puck out and it was fielded by Padraig Doherty whose diagonal ball, a hurling equivalent of Ryan McHugh’s pass to Michael Murphy last weekend.

And then Daire O’Maoileidigh double brilliantly on the ball as it flew past Sligo keeper Jimmy Gordon into the net.

The ex-Na Fianna star then whipped over a point as Donegal surged into a 1-2 to 0-2 and really asserted themselves for the rest of the half.

A younger lighter Sligo side were second best in all the physical battles, but Donegal hit a worrying eight wides.

Their classy corner forward Davin Flynn opened the shoulders and the points flowed from Flynn and the impressive Ronan McDermott.

Sligo threw on Tony O’Kelly Lynch and Galway native Rory Hannify on the restart, and they made a real difference as they rattled over four points on the trot and the defecit was down to O’Maoileidigh’s goal as Donegal led by 1-11 to 0-11 by the 44th minutes.

Sligo had a great chance of a goal in the 47th minute when Gerard O’Kelly Lynch was clean through, and his rasping shot agonisingly grazed the post and slid wide.

O’Kelly Lynch then had a shot that came back off the upright as it looked like Lady Luck had deserted them.

An increasingly ravenous Sligo were winning all the loose balls and Donegal seemed a bit sluggish in comparison.

It looked like a draw when Davin Flynn equalised with a pointed free in the 68th minute.

However, points from Hannify and McHugh sealed the deal for an historic victory for Sligo.

Donegal: Luke White; Gavin Browne, Stephen Gillespie, Padraig Doherty; Conor O’Grady, Michael Donaghue, Sean McVeigh (0-1); Danny Cullen (0-2) Brian McIntyre (0-1); Ronan McDermott (0-2), Conor Gartland, Gerry Gilmore; Daire O’Maoileidigh (1-3) Bernard Lafferty (0-2) Davin Flynn (0-8f). Subs: Josh Cronolly McGee for Gilmore, Jack O’Loughlin for Donaghue, Christopher McDermott for Doherty (53), Mark Callaghan for Browne (55), Liam McKinney for O’Grady (66).

Sligo: Jimmy Gordon; Niall Kilcullen, Mark Hannify, Kevin O’Kennedy; Gavin Connolly, Rory McHugh (0-2) Niall Feehily; Finnian Cawley, Fionn Connolly; Joe McHugh (0-2) Gerard O’Kelly-Lynch (0-1) Kevin Gilmartin (0-2); Ruairi Brennan (0-1) Andy Kilcullen (1-6, 4f) Tomas Cawley (0-2). Subs: Tony O’Kelly-Lynch (0-2) for Brennan (29), Conor Hannify (0-2) for Gilmartin (36), Michael Munnelly for Connolly (49).

Referee: K Parke (Antrim)