Letterkenny Rovers 4
Donegal Town 1
By Stuart Connolly
Letterkenny Rovers have reached the Brian McCormick Cup Final once again after three second-half goals helped them see off Donegal Town at the Diamond Park in Ballyare.
Those in Claret and Blue took an early lead via the head of Mark Jordan, and that goal was quickly cancelled out courtesy of another header from Lee McMonagle.
All square at the interval, Rovers went in front thanks to a strike from Zach Gorman and BJ Banda wrapped things up with a brace in the latter stages.
Letterkenny Rovers started on the front foot, and their early pressure had Finn James active in the first few minutes to catch a header towards his goal from Caolon Kelly.
Donegal Town had a few ventures forward in the early stages too, and Mark Anthony McGinley was required to make a smart stop at his near post on the left to deny a low shot from Ultan O’Grady with six minutes gone.
Just prior to the tenth minute, Donegal Town broke the deadlock. A corner in from the left was flicked on at the near post by O’Grady and Mark Jordan was in the six-yard box to head home. A little over two minutes later, Rovers went within a whisker of an equaliser. Joel Gorman stood over a free kick roughly 25 yards out, and his effort clipped the outside of the post.
With their next chance, they found a leveller after a well worked counter. Zach Gorman released Adrian Delap down the right side and his first time cross was put on a plate for Lee McMonagle to head beyond the grasp of James.
At the midway stage of the half, Ronan McHugh was denied by McGinley, while clear-cut opportunities after that were difficult to conjure up, with both sides well-matched and level at the break.
Letterkenny Rovers started the second half in a similar fashion to the first, as an early attempt from Simon McGlynn was on target.
Less than five minutes in, McMonagle set-up Shane McNamee with a precise pass into the area, and the low shot was brilliantly stopped by the outstretched boot of James.
Donegal Town responded with some big moments of their own as Padraic Gilsenan cleared away a low effort from Conor Campbell, while Mark Jordan fizzed a free kick just wide of the mark with a little over 20 minutes to go.
In the 72nd minute, Rovers took the lead. Zach Gorman lined up a long-range attempt and the speed played its part as it slipped through the fingers of James.
Donegal Town almost replied pretty swiftly as Jordan’s corner from the right was met by O’Grady, with McGinley quick to react and parry away the header destined for the bottom corner.
In the final ten minutes of the game, Rovers put daylight between themselves and Donegal Town as BJ Banda bagged two.
Joel Gorman swung the ball in low from the right for the first with Banda at the back post to tuck home. Close to stoppage time, Banda raced clear after being played in by Gareth Doherty and he calmly dinked the ball over the top of the onrushing James.
Teams
Letterkenny Rovers: Mark Anthony McGinley; Padraic Gilsenan, Adrian Delap, Dean McCarry, Keith Cowan; Caolan Kelly, Zach Gorman, Joel Gorman, Lee McMonagle; Shane McNamee, Simon McGlynn. Subs: BJ Banda for McMonagle(68 mins), Rory Gallagher and David Shovlin for Kelly and McGlynn(77 mins), Kevin McGrath and Gareth Doherty for Delap and Z.Gorman(86 mins)
Donegal Town: Finn James; Ben Sweeney, Joseph Campbell, Ethan McCrea, John Doherty; Ultan O’Grady, Mark Jordan, Stephen Graham, Ronan McHugh; Conor Campbell, Declan Duignan. Subs: Niko Dominik for Duignan(74 mins)
Referee: Marty McGarrigle.