Cronolly McGee double seals Donegal SHC for Setanta
Josh Cronolly McGee pictured with his Man of the Match award after Setanta's victory over St Eunan's in the Donegal SHC Final. Photo courtesy of Donegal GAA.
Donegal Senior Hurling Championship final
Setanta 2-12 St Eunan’s 0-13
By Chris McNulty at O’Donnell Park
Josh Cronolly McGee scored two late goals to turn the Donegal SHC final dramatically in Setanta’s favour.
Cronolly McGee’s late double secured a 19th title for Setanta, who came from four points behind to defeat St Eunan’s at O’Donnell Park.
With the game fine poised on a knife edge, the teams sitting at 0-11 apiece, Cronolly McGee pounced in decisive fashion.
Until then, the final had been a gunfight between sharpshooters Gerard Gilmore and Cathal O’Brien, who posted 17 points between them. Gilmore’s nine-point haul was every bit as important as those pieces of magic as he ensured that Setanta were in touch in those vital late moments.
In the 59th minute, Cronolly McGee picked up the pieces from a Gilmore ball in. The Setanta forward rounded Lorcan Heavey and blasted past goalkeeper Cian Hennessy.
After Ruairi Campbell bent over a point, Cronolly McGee added a second goal. After taking a hand-off from Niall Cleary, Cronolly McGee rifled home to secure the Munster Cup for the Crossroads side - their sixth title in the last nine years.
The teams shared 14 wides - eight of them for Setanta - in an often-wasteful opening half at both ends.
Gilmore landed a monster score to put Setanta into a 0-4 to 0-2 lead midway through the first half, but his side didn’t score for another 14 minutes.
By the time Gilmore - who scored 1-9 in his side’s semi-final win over defending champions Burt - added his team’s next point, from a close-range free which levelled the sums at 0-5 apiece at the interval, St Eunan’s had clipped three-in-a-row.
Kieran Larkin boomed over from 50m after Cormac Finn won a fine turnover to reduce the St Eunan’s arrears.
O’Brien converted two frees, the second of them landed from well inside his own half in the 28th minute, to put St Eunan’s 0-5 to 0-4 in front.
It was the first time since the tentative early moments, when Brian McIntyre broke the stalemate in the third minute, that St Eunan’s were ahead, but Gilmore made sure there was nothing between them as they headed for the half-time refreshments.
Earlier in the afternoon, Gilmore levelled from a free to cancel out MacIntyre’s opener and, after Sean Ward took receipt of a raking delivery from Ruairi Campbell to put them in front, Gilmore found the range from 40m just inches in from the sideline having been teed up by Danny Cullen.
At the outset of the second half, St Eunan’s maintained the upper hand with Cian Randles and O’Brien opening up a two-point lead within three minutes of the restart.
O’Brien sailed over a 60m free and MacIntyre kept his cool to hook over in spite of the two Setanta men on his shoulders.
O’Brien’s fifth of the day put St Eunan’s 0-10 to 0-6 ahead just seven minutes into the second half.
However, the wily Gilmore kept the Mark Marley-managed Setanta right in the mix and nailed four successive points.
O’Brien ended a 17-minute spell without a St Eunan’s score after Ryan Coyle fouled Fergal Delaney, but the stage was only being set for Cronolly McGee to take the lead role.
St Eunan’s won the intermediate final via a 0-13 to 0-6 win over Dungloe on a day when Gavin Forde’s five points proved crucial.
In the junior final, Letterkenny Gaels created a slice of history when winning their first piece of silverware at adult level when beating Burt 3-18 to 0-5. Donal Farrelly, Brian Diver and Joseph Patton bagged the goals for the Glebe side.
Scorers for Setanta: Gerard Gilmore 0-9 (7f), Josh Cronolly McGee 2-1, Ruairi Campbell, Sean Ward 0-1 each
Scorers for St Eunan’s: Cathal O’Brien 0-8 (7f, 1 ’65), Brian MacIntyre 0-2, Kevin Kealy, Kieran Larkin, Cian Randles 0-1 each
Setanta: Kevin Campbell; Ruairi McLaughlin, Stephen McBride, Mark Callaghan; Dean Harvey, Bernard Lafferty, Declan Coulter; Gerard Gilmore, Conor McGettigan; Danny Cullen, Jonny Carlin, Ryan Coyle; Sean Ward, Josh Cronolly McGee, Ruairi Campbell. Subs: Jason Patton for McLaughlin (40), Oisin Marley for Sean Ward (47) Niall Cleary for Lafferty (54).
St Eunan’s: Cian Hennessy; Sean Halvey, Cormac Finn, Lorcan Heavey; Ryan Hilferty, Kieran Larkin, Conor Parke; Brian McIntyre, Conor O’Grady; Kevin Kealy, Cathal O’Brien, Peter Kelly; Fergal Delaney, Cian Randles, Russell Forde. Subs: Sean McVeigh for Randles (43), John Kealy for Forde (46), Matt Ahern for Delaney (58).
Referee: Aidan McAleer (Donegal).
