Tomorrow afternoon sees two Donegal Junior Championship finals in Páirc Uí Dhomhnaill in Letterkenny. In the Junior A final Gaeil Leitir Ceanainn take on CLG Buncranncha.
The men from Inishowen have blazed their way into the final with impressive victories in all their matches to date. In Group A they had three straight and very convincing wins 3-21 to 0-3 against Naomh Pádraig Leifear, by 1-17 to 0-3 when Na Rossa visited The Scarvey and 2-20 to 1-5 away to Carndonagh. Buncrana had twelve points to spare in their quarter-final win against Moville but had their toughest game to date in the semi-final – a 1-10 to 0-9 win against a battling St Mary’s Convoy side that was the sort of hard fought encounter they needed before meeting Gaeil Leitir Ceanainn in the final.
Letterkenny Gaels path to the final was not as easy as their opponents on Sunday but it was never the less still impressive. They progressed steadily from their Group C games when they drew away to Moville after running out convincing winners at Páirc na Gaeil against Naomh Pádraig Uisce Chaoin the previous week. In their quarter-final in Burt they beat Carndonagh by 4-14 to 0-8 and while they had seven points to spare against Na Rossa in their semi-final last week in O’Donnell Park the men from Leitir never threw in the towel. For much of the game it was not as comfortable as the scoreline suggests but the Gaels never wilted.
The scene is set for what should be a closely fought and entertaining final with throw in at 4.00. Referee-ing proceedings will be Shane Toolan from Aodh Ruadh, Beal Átha Seannaigh. He is a man who knows both sides well and officiated as linesman at one semi-final last week and as the man in the middle in the other game.
The Junior B final throws-in at 2.00 and will also features Gaeil Leitir Ceanainn, who play CLG Iorras. The Letterkenny Gaels team competed well this year in the newly established Regional league this year and will be looking forward to bringing home the club’s first leg of a unique junior double. Urris are celebrating their 50th year of existence this year and will be delighted to crown it with a county title.
It is a classic bon mot to characterise Reserve sides as a blend of youth and experience but it also normally the case. For CLG Iorras the side is backboned by three men who already have All-Ireland medals in their pockets for 2019 – Sean McDaid, Adrian Doherty and Peter Devlin were all part of Val Murray’s triumphant Masters’ squad. The equally evergreen Connie Doherty, a man who also has a few important medals in his locker including an Intermediate with Naomh Conaill in the 1990s, will take care of the refereeing.
