Advertisement

March – English wins Euro Indoor bronze medal

Mark English took a superb bronze medal in the 800m at the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn.

The Finn Valley athlete was in fourth place for the majority of the race but pushed on and went ahead of Elvin Josue Canales into third place coming around the bend.

He finished in a time of 1:45.46 to land his fifth European medal.

Advertisement

The Letterkenny native was then set to take part in the World Championships but had to pull out with illness.

Race-walker Brian Ó Domhnaill won a silver medal in the 3000 metres race at the World Indoor Masters Championship.

Letterkenny AC’s Barry Mackey also picked up a silver medal in the 8000 metres cross country event.

Aidan Gillespie of Rosses AC set a new Irish record of 9.44 seconds in the 50-55 category of the 60 metres hurdles at the Masters Indoor Championships while his clubmate Helen McCready collected two silver medals, and Luke Mangan was second in the 35-39 category of the Shot Put.

Letterkenny AC’s Danny Sharkey helped himself to a gold medal in the M65 3000 metres race walk.

Erin Friel of Letterkenny AC came first in the Under 18 400 and 200 metres races at the National Indoor Championships in Athlone.

Lifford Strabane AC’s Caoimhe Gallen claimed a gold medal in the hammer throw at the All-Ireland Under 20 Indoor Championships in Athlone.

Advertisement

Leah O’Gara of Finn Valley won a silver in the Under 20 3000 metres race.

In Gaelic Games, the Donegal senior football team began the month with a comeback victory over Derry and that win ensured that they were safe in Division 1 for another season.

Jim McGuinness rotated his team for the Tyrone match in Letterkenny and despite a spirited performance, they lost out.

Donegal went with a weakened side to Mayo in their final league game, but came close to winning the match and reaching the Division 1 decider.

However, Mayo finished strongly to win by two points. That kept the Connacht side in the top flight and such was the tight nature of the congested table, they ended up in the final instead of Donegal.

The Donegal Under 20 footballers made a great start to their campaign.

They made light work of Fermanagh and Antrim before coming through a decent test against Down in Ballyshannon.

The Donegal minor footballers also had a good March.

Barry Ward’s team dug out a tight win over Cavan and then defeated Fermanagh while a semi-final victory over Armagh in O’Donnell Park sent them through to the league final.

There was real disappointment for the Donegal senior hurlers after they were relegated to Division 3.

Mickey McCann’s men held their own in the league but lost out to Kildare.

That set up what was effectively a relegation decider against a resurgent Derry team and the Oak Leaf county prevailed.

The Donegal Ladies team started the month with defeat against Galway.

James Daly’s side then bounced back with a 0-10 to 0-7 triumph in Lifford against Tipperary.

Donegal finished their league campaign with a 1-8 to 0-8 defeat at the hands of Cork.

Karl Lacey was appointed County Performance Lead to the Donegal GAA Academy.

Fanad man William McAteer was part of the St Pat’s Maghera management team that helped their school to the Hogan Cup in Croke Park.

It was a busy month for Finn Harps.

The Ballybofey club got their first point when they drew with UCD, and then lost out to Cobh Ramblers.

Harps then recorded a super 5-0 victory over Bray Wanderers but that was to be Darren Murphy’s last game in charge.

He stepped down as Head Coach and was appointed as Loughgall boss later in the month.

Harps began life without Murphy with a 1-0 triumph over Athlone Town.

Gavin McAteer provided an assist as Republic of Ireland Under 17 team defeated Iceland 5-0 to qualify for the World Cup.

There was no joy for Ciara Grant and her Hibernian side as they lost 5-0 against Rangers in the Scottish Cup Final.

The Donegal Underage League U16 side were crowned national champions when they defeated Cork on penalties.

Fanad United were gutted when they lost 3-2 to Fairview Rangers in the quarter-finals of the FAI Junior Cup.

Letterkenny Rovers were well on their way to the Brian McCormick Sports & Leisure Premier Division title by the end of the month.

They were six points ahead with four games left after nearest challengers Bonagee could only draw at home with Kilmacrennan.

In the Temple Domestic Appliances Division One, Glenea United were frustrated to draw 0-0 with Ballybofey United but that did leave them a point ahead of Donegal Town with two games remaining.

Whitestrand United were coming strong in the Donegal Physiotherapy & Performance Centre Division Two towards the end of the campaign but Convoy went into April as the league leaders, one point ahead of Kerrykeel ’71.

Kildrum Tigers reached the Ulster Junior Cup Final when they defeated Cockhill Celtic 2-1.

Fanad United sealed the Finn Travel Division Three league title when they saw off Drumkeen United 4-0.

Caoimhe Heron hit four goals as ATU Donegal defeated Queen’s University 5-2 to win the O’Regan Cup.

Pobalscoil Ghaoth Dobhair claimed their third successive FAI Junior ‘B’ Boys National title when they defeated Coláiste an Phiarsaigh in a dramatic penalty shoot-out in Longford.

Jack Bennett scored the only goal of the game as Abbey Vocational School defeated St Columba’s, Stranorlar 1-0 in the Ulster Final.

In boxing, Matthew McCole landed his sixth Irish Third level title when the ATU Donegal student defeated Daniel Henriksson.

There were four Donegal boxers crowned All-Ireland champions at the National Boys and Girls Junior 1 and 2 Championships at the National Stadium.

Raphoe’s Taylor Parke won his third All-Ireland title in the Youth 1 46kg final when he defeated Gerard O’Looney from Nenagh.

Kerry Brown (Convoy) won the Junior 2 60kg crown when she stopped Leah O’Brien from Togher.

Dungloe’s Alesha Mullis won the Youth 1 66kg final with a 5-0 victory over Ella Leonard (Monieva).

Carys McFadden won by RSC in Round 2 against Olivia Wardzinska (St Brigid’s, Eden) in the Youth 1 46kg final.

The Donegal men’s darts team were in flying form as they retained their Indo Inter-county title in Killarney. However, the ladies team were beaten in the final by Dublin.

In basketball, there was a defeat for Team Northwest in their final game of the season against Moy Tolka Rovers.

The Letterkenny Blaze Under 14 side won the North West Area League.

Dungloe cueist Shaun Sharkey had a great run at the Ultimate Pro Pool event in Daventry, England, where he reached the last four.

In horse-racing, Milford-bred Derryhassen Paddy came away with a very credible third place finish in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham.

Top
Advertisement

Donegal News is published by North West of Ireland Printing & Publishing Company Limited, trading as North-West News Group.
Registered in Northern Ireland, No. R0000576. St. Anne's Court, Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland