Leo McLoone on the burst for Naomh Conaill as Sean McVeigh and Eamonn Doherty of St Eunans, move in to halt his run during Sunday’s game in Glenties.
BY CHRIS MCNULTY
COUNTY champions Glenswilly have been handed a derby day tussle with Termon in a mouth-watering draw for the quarter-finals of the Donegal senior football championship.
The draw was conducted in Ballybofey last night following the Junior A Football final and it wasn’t before an evening of some controversy and confusion over who had advanced out of group 3 as the runners-up.
Termon’s 0-14 to 1-9 win over Gaoth Dobhair at The Burn Road threw a spanner in the works. The sides were level on 3 points each and while Gaoth Dobhair had a better score difference, the win for Termon in yesterday’s game was what proved significant.
An emergency summit of the Donegal CCC was held in Ballybofey to debate the issue.
Advice was sought from the Ulster Council, who advised that the GAA’s official guide be consulted and rule 6.20 (5) (c) was used to settle the matter. The rule advises that where two teams only are locked on points that the head to head result of the ‘previous game’ be used to settle it.
The confusion arose over the interpretation of the ‘previous game’ but the previous game is the game that comes before the end of the group phase – in this instance yesterday’s meeting at The Burn Road where six points by Daire McDaid proved crucial for Termon.
Glenswilly themselves were in a tight spot on Saturday night, but they got over St Michael’s as Michael Murphy’s 1-3 saw them hold off St Michael’s 1-4 to 1-2 in a game that certainly wasn’t for the purists.
Glenswilly, St Michael’s and Kilcar all finished level on points, but because three teams were involved the arbitrator here was the score difference. Glenswilly and St Michael’s made it through with Kilcar – despite Ryan McHugh’s four goals in a 5-15 to 0-3 win over Bundoran – making their exit as their score difference was two points lower that the others.
Kilcar and Gaoth Dobhair now don the role of observers as the chase for Dr Maguire hots up.
The meeting of old rivals Naomh Conaill and Ardara is sure to draw bumper crowd, while Maxi Curran’s St Eunan’s will play Four Masters with Dungloe meeting St Michael’s.
The Naomh Conaill-Ardara game is at 4pm on Saturday in Tir Chonaill Park; St Eunan’s meet Four Masters at Sean MacCumhaill Park at 8pm on Saturday; Glenswilly’s game with Termon takes place in O’Donnell Park on Sunday afternoon at 3pm; while the Dungloe-St Michael’s clash will be held in Sean MacCumhaill Park on Sunday evening at 7pm.
The draw for the Donegal Intermediate Football Championship will be conducted next weekend following the final round of games in that competition.
DONEGAL SENIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTER-FINALS
Glenswilly v Termon
Naomh Conaill v Ardara
Dungloe v St Michael’s
Four Masters v St Eunan’s
SEMI-FINALS
Four Masters/St Eunan’s v Dungloe/St Michael’s
Glenswilly/Termon v Naomh Conaill/Ardara
SENIOR RESERVE QUARTER-FINALS
Naomh Conaill v Dungloe
St Michael’s v St Eunan’s
Ardara v Kilcar
Glenfin v Gaoth Dobhair
SEMI-FINALS
St Michael’s/St Eunan’s v Glenfin/Gaoth Dobhair
Ardara v Kilcar v Naomh Conaill/Dungloe
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