Ulster MFC Donegal 0-11 Armagh 0-10
Late point claims a win for Donegal
AN injury-time point from U16 prodigy Colm McFadden clinched a late victory for Donegal in the opening match yesterday.
The game looked to be heading for a draw when impressive Armagh cornerforward Brendan Doran saw his free just scrape over the crossbar in the last minute of normal time but McFadden shouldered the responsibility to chip over for the winner.
With the sides locked at 10 points each, Armagh seemed a little unlucky not to earn a free when Liam O’Hare looked to have been pulled down. Referee Martin Kolbohm however waved play on and it was the home side who went on to snatch victory.
Anthony Molloy’s side got off to a great start leading by 0-3 to no score after just 13 minutes, midfielders Brendan Boyle and Eamon Sweeney and McFadden coming up with the initial scores. Armagh fought back against the breeze though and a Kevin Rafferty point levelled proceedings in the 27th minute.
Armagh started the second-half brightly and grabbed three points on the trot, two from Ronan Clarke who had a good secondhalf, and one from Michael McKeever, the younger brother of senior star Paddy.
It was more or less nip and tuck after that, Donegal centre half-forward John Boyle getting the first of his three second-half points with a brilliant free from an acute angle.
Armagh keeper John Hearty was struggling with his kickouts but it was Donegal’s turn to waste the opportunites. They did however seem to have pulled away again when they went 10-8 up with only four minutes left on the clock through a point from Declan Alcorn.
A McKeever free and another from Brendan Doran however brought Armagh level again with the Orchard supporters sensing a late victory could be on the cards.
The game wasn’t of the highest quality in the world, but Donegal held their nerve and now go on to meet Derry in the semi-final on July 4.
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Boxing
Belfast fighters Brian Magee and David Lowry will spend this week at the Lennox Lewis college in London in preparation for their forthcoming third professional fights.
Middleweight Magee will have several intensive sparring sessions with top British fighters David Starie and Howard Eastman.
The 22-year-old Belfast man is set to feature on a fight night in Ipswich on June 24. Lowry may have to wait until July 10 in London for his third featherweight foray.
Meanwhile the victories continue to roll in for Belfast’s Neill Sinclair. The hard-hitting middleweight outpointed Sutton’s David Kirk over eight rounds at the Cardiff International Arena at the weekend.
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Camogie
Derry blasted their way into the Ulster Minor Championship final with a 5-12 to 0-0 victory over Armagh in Swatragh yesterday.
The match was over as a contest at the halfway stage when they had clocked up a goal and seven points. In the Derry senior club championship the semi-final pairing on July 11 will be Swatragh v Lavey and Dungiven v Slaughtneil.
In the Down championship, Drumaness had eight points to spare over Clonduff and Ballyholland a similar margin against Attical. Ballyholland now play Liatroim Fontenoys and Ballycran face Drumaness in next week’s semi-finals.
Liatroim Fontenoys gave Ballyholland a lesson in what to expect when they defeated them 6-4 to 0-1 in yesterday’s Feis an Duin Senior Sevens final, picking up a 12th successive title while their minors also retained the title on a 5-2 to 0-0 scoreline against Bryansford.
