CALLUM Devine and Noel O’Sullivan made it three in-a-row as they once again came out on top in the Wilton Recycling Donegal International Rally.
Welsh man Meirion Evans was Devine’s nearest challenger heading into the final day as he was 21.8 seconds behind.
However, Derry native Devine stretched his lead out to over thirty seconds by the first stage on Sunday and he was always able to control matters after that.
Evans finished second while Donegal Town man David Kelly had a good rally and came third.
Aaron McIntyre and Derry Long were triumphant in the Modified section ahead of Gareth Irwin and Jason McCauley in second and Conor Harvey and Eamonn Doherty.
PJ McDermott and Patrick McBride came out on top in Class 24, while Barry McLaughlin and Barry McBride took the honours in Class 13.
In Gaelic Games, the Donegal Senior Footballers advanced to the semi-finals of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.
They were given a real scare in the quarter-finals against Monaghan when they were seven points down at half-time.
However, Donegal came powering back in the second half with Michael Langan scoring a fantastic goal in a 1-26 to 1-20 triumph.
It was a busy month for Donegal which began with an emphatic victory over Cavan at Kingspan Breffni Park.
Ciaran Moore then landed a last-gasp winner as Donegal defeated Mayo by 0-19 to 1-15 in Roscommon and knocked the Connacht side out of the Championship.
Jim McGuinness was highly critical of the venue choice for the game after the Mayo match.
Donegal finished second in their group which meant they had to play Louth in the Preliminary quarter-finals.
They won by 2-22 to 0-12 on a day when the Wee County got lost on their way to the match.
There was disappointment for the Donegal Senior Ladies team as they missed out on a spot in the quarter-finals of the All-Ireland Championship.
James Daly’s team were well beaten in their group opener by Galway but had high hopes as they made the long journey to face Tipperary. However, they lost out by 0-11 to 1-6.
Shauna McFadden on the ball against Tipp.
The Donegal Masters team hammered Louth by 3-19 to 2-6.
The St Eunan’s hurling team made a decent start to the Donegal Senior Hurling Championship as they drew with Setanta and then a Burt team who were without star man Liam McKinney.
Naomh Columba ladies team were the big Donegal winners at the Comortas Peile na Gaeltachta National Finals as they won the Junior title in style.
The Dungloe senior ladies lost to Claregalway in their All-Ireland Final, while Gaeil Fhánada ladies were beaten by one point by Naomh Anna Leitir Mor in the Intermediate showpiece.
St Naul’s lost out to Meath side Clann na nGael in the men’s Junior final, while there was real disappointment for Termon’s senior men’s team in the Senior Final as they let a 13-point lead slip and eventually lost out to Meath side Wolfe Tones.
However, they continued their good form in Division 1 of the All-County League and Ryan McFadden’s late goal sealed a draw away to St Eunan’s.
Four Masters edged closer to a spot in the Division 1 Final when they got the better of Naomh Conaill in Donegal Town.
After a slow start to the campaign, Kilcar gave their hopes of survival in Division 1 a boost when they won three games on the trot.
Naomh Muire’s automatic promotion hopes took a hit in Division 2 when they lost to Carndonagh, but Dungloe continued their rich vein of form with a big win over Naomh Columba.
Sean MacCumhaills Under 16 boys team claimed the Northern board title when they defeated St Eunan’s by 2-8 to 0-11.
Downings were crowned the winners of the Fiona Doherty Memorial Cup.
It was a decent June for Finn Harps. Kevin McHugh’s side drew 1-1 with Wexford and then 0-0 with Athlone.
Their performances improved later in the month as they defeated Dundalk 1-0 with Gradi Lomboto scoring the winner.
They backed that up with a 1-0 win over Treaty four days later with Lomboto once again the hero.
The Donegal Under 14 side performed brilliantly in the Kennedy Cup and reached the final for the very first time but came unstuck against Limerick Desmonds who won 2-0.
Donegal men Sam Todd (Carndonagh) and Ronan Boyce (Ramelton) both scored as Derry City defeated Drogheda United 3-0 and moved into second position in the League of Ireland Premier Division.
Loughanure’s Marc Walsh signed a deal with Fermanagh club Ballinamallard United, while Killygordon’s Oisin Duffy signed a pro contract with Strabane Athletic.
Killybegs man Seamus Coleman signed a one-year contract extension with Everton.
Speaking at the AGM for the Donegal Junior League, Secretary Nigel Ferry said verbal abuse of referees had become a ‘major concern for football’ in the county.
Stephen McConnell of Letterkenny Rovers won the Sunday Manager of the Year at the Donegal Junior League Awards night while Oldtown boss Tommy McLaughlin won the Saturday award.
Letterkenny Rovers stalwart Chris Malseed was named Premier Division Player of the Year, while Darren McGeever (Glenea) and James Kerr (Kerrykeel) were awarded the best players in the Division One and Division Two Sunday leagues respectively.
Oldtown’s Drew Connolly (Division One), Adam Murphy of Letterkenny Rovers (Division Two) and Daibhid Lynch (Division Three) picked up the Player of the Year gongs in the Saturday League.
In athletics, Mark English broke his own 800 metres record on route to victory at the FBK Games in Hangelo in the Netherlands.
English produced a fantastic time of 1:43.92.
Ethan Dewhirst of Tir Chonaill AC won the 400 metres hurdles at a race meeting in Lisbon.
Letterkenny AC’s Harry McIlwaine won a gold medal in the 100 metres and a silver in the 200 metres at the Tailteann Games.
Aidan Gillespie of Rosses AC registered a new Irish record in the M50 category of the 100 metres hurdles at the Northern Ireland Masters Track & Field Championships in Belfast. Letterkenny AC’s Stephen McAuley came third in the Cork City Marathon. There was a great turnout at the Glenswilly 5k where Oisin Ó Gailin triumphed.
Dungloe’s Matthew McCole produced a fantastic performance to overcome Eugene McKeever and lift the Irish Elite Light Middleweight 70kg title in Belfast.
McCole had lost to McKeever on four previous occasions but there was no denying him in this year’s decider as he ran out a deserved 4-1 victor.
In darts, Declan Cunningham rolled back the years to win the Pat Rawdon Cup. In Motorcycling, Rhys Irwin impressed in Round 3 of the British Superbikes Championship at Snetterton and came away with two podium finishes.
