By Matthew Wilson
St Eunan’s manager Kieran Donnelly was pleased with the performance of his side in Sunday’s win over Aodh Ruadh at O’Donnell Park.
In an encounter where the high temperatures were felt by both sets of players, St Eunan’s came out on top courtesy of a two-point victory over the Ballyshannon men.
It was a contest which the home side led from start to finish and speaking afterwards, Donnelly was happy with the overall display of his outfit given the conditions.
“It was a workmanlike performance in extreme heat so it was tough on the players. I thought we managed the ball well for large periods of the game.
“In the third quarter, I think we dominated large parts of it. We probably missed a few crucial scores but Aodh Ruadh are a good team and they showed loads of threat as well at times in possession”
The O’Donnell Park residents led this match by five points as the game entered the closing quarter but a spirited fight back from the visitors may have concerned the Letterkenny side.
Only a point separated the sides as the clock entered red at O’Donnell Park but St Eunan’s held on and the Fermanagh native was aware of their opponents threats entering the contest.
“Aodh Ruadh are the highest goalscorers in Division 1 so they’ve a goal threat and they’ve a lot of pace. They have quality and they’ve a two-point threat as well.
“We knew they had quality so it was just good to manage that last five minutes, especially in that heat. We got lads that were returning from injury a bit of game time and that’s the most pleasing thing too.”
As Donnelly mentioned, they welcomed some faces back into the side for Sunday’s meeting on home soil including Pauric Boyle and Conor O’Donnell Jnr.
O’Donnell Jnr particularly impressed during the match, kicking 10 points in his side’s victory over the Father Tierney Park residents.
Donnelly has used the league campaign well in his first year in charge of the club, giving appearances to a large number of players which has created competition for places according to the St Eunan’s boss.
“It’s amazing, we played the whole league without those two men and I thought Conor O’Donnell Jnr was excellent, we know he has that ability.
“We have good competition for places, we maybe looked at 40 or 50 players during the league so that’s the main benefit of it.”