Posted online: Jul 7th, 2010

Naomh Conaill 2-11
Kilcar 0-09

By Frank Craig
sports editor

Naomh Conaill will battle St Michael’s in the quarter finals of the Donegal Senior Football Championship after they overcame a tame Kilcar resistance at the weekend.
Despite rattling Cathal Corey’s men over the course of the two previous encounters, Kilcar were undone by two sloppy first half goals, needlessly conceded and more or less extinguished any hopes they might have had of advancing.
The manner of which those goals were conceded left those attending in little doubt that the void left at number three by Barry McGinley was a decisive factor in the outcome of this one.
And with almost three weeks until that duel with St Michael’s, Glenties will know that they are in with a real chance of mounting a serious challenge for the Dr Maguire. That interim period will allow the like of Dara Gallagher and Léon Thompson the chance to improve their sharpness.
Both were lively at the weekend and look to be getting their edge back at just the right time. Add the suspended Eoin Waide and the returning Thomas Donaghue into the mix and the Tidy Town has every reason to be optimistic in the next few weeks.
Anthony Thompson and sixteen-year-old Patrick McBrearty swapped early scores as a boisterous crowd anticipated a heated and entertaining contest. Ciaran Boyle was an early name in the book as both sets of players got up close and personal all over the field.
McBrearty almost got inside on goal on twelve minutes but Kilcar had to settle for the consolation of a Barry Doherty point after the ball spilled loose. Indeed, Naomh Conaill could and should have had the ball in the back of the net themselves moments later.
Johnny McLoone lobbed in a cracker of a pass to Leo McLoone at full-forward, but his effort was excellently beaten away by Kilcar ‘keeper Eamon McGinley before Anthony Thompson’s shot from the rebound was somehow deflected away by Barry Shovlin on the line.
Glenties did manage the consolation of a McLoone point from the same move, but it was a let –off that Kilcar just didn’t heed, as the potential danger presented by McLoone just wasn’t addressed on the edge of the square.
The opening goal eventually did come after Michael Hegarty was adjudged to have bumped Léon Thompson to the ground resulting in a penalty kick for Corey’s men.
Naomh Conaill’s record from the sport as of late hasn’t been the greatest, and despite Brendan McDyre seeing his effort stopped, he reacted quickest to slam home the rebound ten minutes from the break.
Still reeling from that disappointment, Kilcar went to sleep and disaster soon struck once again in the form of McLoone. Dara Gallagher again went route one into the danger area; and while it’s debatable as to whether McLoone actually got a touch – his presence was more than enough to unsettle a fragile Kilcar full back line and the ball some how nestled in the back of the net.
Dermot ‘Brick’ Molloy still had time to slice over another to give his side a commanding 2-03 to 0-2 lead going in at the break.
If Kilcar were to somehow salvage this one, they needed a positive start to the new half. They didn’t get it, and it was Léon Thompson that opened the scoring almost from throw-in.
By the third minute in, Glenties had pegged on two more scores thanks to Molloy and Gallagher to stretch the difference out to ten. An Ashley Carr double was added to by McBrearty to slash the deficit back to seven, but it never really looked like the tide could be turned.
Dara Gallagher then impressively split the posts from the ’45 before sandwiching in McBrearty’s third of the day with an opportunist point after Kilcar had sloppily surrendered possession.
Eleven minutes from the final whistle, Léon Thompson curled over a delightful score from wide on the right. As noted earlier, an impressive finish to the season from him, added to the considerable firepower of Molloy and Gallagher – and Glenties will be hard to contain.
Molloy and McBrearty then swapped big lefts before McLoone grabbed his first point of the day as the clock edged towards full time.
Ashley Carr tagged on two late frees but by this time Naomh Conaill were already looking forward to a quarter final tilt at McFadden, Toye and Co.