Letterkenny Rovers will be mightily relieved to get back to winning ways in the Donegal Youth League when they got the better of a highly determined Bonagee side 2-1 in wonderful footballing conditions at the Aura on Wednesday evening.
Both sides came into this game with contrasting fortunes from their weekend games with Rovers licking their wounds after losing to Fanad while Bonagee were buoyed by a 6-1 win at Gweedore Utd but it was Rovers who started the brighter and Codey Brogan should have scored when rounding the keeper after only seven minutes but saw his goalbound shot blocked by the retreating Bonagee defender.
Bonagee then had the ball in the net when the impressive Matthe deCooks effort was ruled out for offside while Brogan came close again for the hosts on 18 minutes but could not direct his header on target when well placed to score.
Cameron Gormley got a rare start for Rovers and was lively and could have opened the scoring on 19 minutes while Bonagee came closest on 39 minutes when Ryan Moran teed up deCook and his long range effort forced home netminder Eoin O’Boyle into a save low to his right before the first half ended like it had started with Rovers coming close when Ciaran Daffan should have done better with a neat flick from a James Tourish free kick but it was saved comfortably by Peter O’Donnell in the Bonagee goal with the game locked in a goalless stalemate at the break.
Tony O’Carroll is at the helm in Bonagee this season and he will have been pleased to see his side side start the second half in bright fashion and they came close on three occasions through deCook, a Paddy Sharpe header and an Oisin Purdy shot which forced O’Boyle into a good save low to his right before Rovers made them pay for those misses when they took the lead on 54 minutes.
A quick throw from second half sub Peter McEniff found Tourish and his long ball set Brogan away and he did well to find space in the box drawing the keeper out before rolling it into the path of Tarlach O’Boyle and he simply couldnt miss with the keeper stranded.
Sharpe then had an effort for Bonagee before Ronan Downey saw a good effort saved before Rovers doubled the lead when Brian Diver and O’Boyle combined to set up Brogan on 76 minutes and he made no mistake from close range this time having spurned an earlier opportunity just two minutes earlier forcing O’Donnell into a fine double save after Divers initial shot.
That should have been game,set and match but Bonagee got one back when Matthew deCook fired a sublime effort over O’Boyle from outside the box to make it 2-1 on 85 minutes and though Bonagee looked lively Rovers held out to gain what could be a valuable three points.
Both sides are back in action on Saturday with Bonagee hosting Fanad while Letterkenny entertain Gweedore Celtic.
Letterkenny Rovers; Eoin O’Boyle, Calvin O’Brien, James tourish, Eoghan Kelly, Ciaran Daffan, Jerome Angel-Atahuene, Tarlach O’Boyle, Sean Curran, Codey Brogan, Shane Doherty, Cameron Gormley.
Subs; Peter McEniff for Daffan 48, Rhys Duncan for Gormley 65, Brian Diver for Tourish 65, Daire Crossan for Atahuene 71.
Bonagee Utd; Peter O’Donnell, John O’Donnell, Sean Mcnulty, Kyle Gormley, Darren Coyle, Paddy Sharpe, Jamie Gallagher, Daniel Stolarcyzk,Matthew de Cook, oisin Purdy, Ryan moran.
Subs;Ronan Downey for gallagher 60, Jordan Rodgers for Sharpe 70 mins, Max Dunnion for moran 75 mins, Stephen Lafferty for Purdy 86.
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