LETTERKENNY Rovers struck five times in the first half to get the defence of their Donegal Youth League off to the perfect start.
Swilly Rovers 0 Letterkenny Rovers 5
by Chris McNulty at Swilly Park
Brandon Ndlovu, Finnian O’Donnell, Fouad Bashar, Joel Gorman and Mark McGlynn netted for Anthony Gorman’s side.
From the moment, Ndlovu broke the deadlock, the ending appeared inevitable for a good-sized attendance on a splendid evening by the Lennon.
The opener arrived just eight minutes in as Ndlovu rose to delightfully head Leon Doherty’s arching cross beyond home goalkeeper Kyle Burns.
With Swilly hardly having time to shake the heads clear, Letterkenny doubled the lead almost instantly.
Ndlouv was the orchestrater as Letterkenny surged after winning possession back. Referee Liam McLaughlin allowed an advantage to Ndlovu on the left-hand side. Ndlovu tricked his way into the area and fed O’Donnell, whose finish was excellent.
Tyler Durning’s deflected effort flew wide of the Letterkenny target as Swilly sought a way back.
Bur Letterkenny added a third goal on 17 minutes when Bashar leapt unchallenged to head in from a Gorman corner.
Eight minutes later, Gorman cracked a free kick past Burns and McGlynn brilliantly added number five before half-time. The 15-year-old showed superb close control before he found a way to the back of the net; a goal that capped an excellent performance.
Luke Parke, the Letterkenny substitute, twice fired narrowly off target in the second half while Sam Harvey had another attempt charged down by the home rearguard.
Swilly Rovers: Kyle Burns, Jay Toland, Clive Callan, Gavin Sweeney, Tony Gallagher, Darragh McDaid, Michael Murray, Rory Pyper, Joshua McAteer, Tyler Durning, Oisin Coyle. Sub: Denis Shiels for Callan (53).
Letterkenny Rovers: Matthew Whoriskey, Leon Doherty, Caolan McConnell, Fouad Bashar, Kyron Coyle, Evan McBride, Sean McGinley, Joel Gorman, Finnian O’Donnell, Mark McGlynn, Brandon Ndlovu. Subs: Nathan Bonner and Sam Harvey for McGinley and McGlynn (52); Luke Parke and Ciaran Kelly for Bashar and Ndlovu.
Referee: Liam McLaughlin
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