Gaelic Games

Donegal stroll to easy win but fail to reach the last four in the McKenna Cup

Michael Murphy’s first half goal was one of the highlights of the game

Wed Jan 15 2014 - 22:38

Donegal 3-17 Queen’s 3-5

Donegal had an easy win in the McKenna Cup last night but it was not enough to qualify for the semi-finals of the competition.

Donegal needed Monaghan to lose in Brewster Park against Fermanagh but that didn’t materialise. They got off to the perfect start with four points in the first 14 minutes, the highlight a long range effort from Neil Gallagher from 40m.

Donegal led 1-7 to 2-0 at the break and Ryan Rafferty completed his hat-trick early in the second half, but the Students were never in the contest and lost three players to black cards in the second half.

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Michael Murphy's first half goal was one of the highlights of the game while Colm McFadden and Rory Kavanagh added to the goal tally in the second period. Christy Toye made a welcome return for Donegal and contributed well to the win in the second half.

DONEGAL: P Durcan; E McGee, N McGee, E Doherty; F McGlynn, L McLoone (0-1), K Lacey; N Gallagher (0-1), G McFadden; A McFadden, L Thompson, O MacNiallais; C McFadden (1-3,2f), MD Murphy (1-7,6f), D O'Connor (0-1). Subs: C Toye (0-1) for L Thompson; R Kavanagh (1-1) for G McFadden; D Walsh for Lacey, all ht; S McLaughlin (0-1) for O'Connor; M Smyth (0-1) for Gallagher, T McKinley for A McFadden, both 68.

QUEEN'S: M Cunningham; C McNulty, C Cullen, P Burns; R Mallon (0-1), D O'Hanlon, G Collins; H Og Conlon (0-1), A Findon; C Maginn (0-2), A B rogan, M McElhinney; R Murray, R Grugan, R Rafferty (3-1). Subs: K Moynagh for McNulty; M McCann for Collins (black card 46); J Dowling for McElhinney; T Gallagher for Findon; M Monan for Murray (black card 57); C McNulty for Dowling (black card 66).

Referee: B Rice (Down