What a hit
Dublin and Donegal was one of the games of the 2014 championship and there was a lot expected from tonight’s Allianz league clash in Croke Park. Both sides were far from full strength but after Dublin lost to Cork last week, and Rory Gallagher’s side recorded a win over Derry,there was plenty at stake for both teams. And it didn’t disappoint in terms of talking points tonight at Croke Park.
Cormac Costello scored a goal after five minutes to give the Dubs the perfect start, and Donegal suffered a double blow in the process, as goalkeeper Paul Durcan was taken off with an injury trying to stop the corner forward from getting his shot off.
However the Ulster side kept in touch and were only down by a single point at half-time,1-5 to 0-7.
The game then took another twist at the start of the second half as Kevin McManamon received his marching orders for picking up two yellow cards. Thre was a little bit of niggle throughout and tensions threatened to boil over more than once as Maurice Deegan struggled to keep a lid on things. However Dublin eventually won the game with a piece of magic from McCaffrey who scored a fantastic goal with 7 just minutes remaining to kill off any hope of a late Donegal rally:
In the other games in tonight’s Allianz League division two, Meath got the better of Kildare in Navan. The result will be especially frustrating for Jason Ryan as Kildare led by four points entering the final ten minutes but once again failed to see out the match .
Late scores from Andrew Tormey and Adam Flanagan secured the win in front of the home crowd by 0-13 to 0-11, despite an early black card for Graham Reilly.
Elsewhere in division two Cavan recorded an impressive 0-17 to 2-6 win over Laois in Portlaoise. Donie Kingston scored two first half goals for the home side to see them level with their visitors at 2-3 to 0-9 at half time. But in a very disappointing second half they scored just three more points as the Ulster side headed back north with the win.
The other game in Division two tonight saw Roscommon record a 1-15 to 1-11 win over Down in Newry.
They led by 1-9 to 0-6 at half time with the crucial goal coming just before half-time as Diarmuid Murtagh slotted home. Down did stage a fightback after the break and with Arthur McConville scoring his second goal in a week, the home side were within touching distance of the ‘Rossies heading into the final moments.
However the sending off of Luke Howard on a second yellow saw their hopes of a second successive win evaporate into the night sky and they slumped to a four point loss.
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