Buncrana opened their hurling league account with a two point win over St. Eunan’s in Scarvey on Friday evening.
Buncrana 3-8 St. Eunan’s 0-15
The first quarter was a tight affair with Caolan O’Neill and Peter Kelly exchanging three frees each, along with points from David Carey and Eoin Scanlon. Scores from Ryan Hilferty and Paul O’Donnell put the Letterkenny team two points clear.
However, two goals from Buncrana in three minutes turned the match around. On 21 minutes Oisín Grant was on the end of a fine team move, followed shortly by a Tom Clare strike to the net after a goalmouth scramble. The away team responded well with two late Kelly points, to leave the half time score at 2-4 to 0-8.
Two further Kelly strikes on the resumption levelled matters. O’Neill and Kelly exchanged frees before St. Eunan’s edged ahead in the last quarter through Kelly.
Darren Doherty and Dylan Duffy put the home team back in front, with Matt Ahern levelling again for the visitors. Buncrana struck the key blow in the 54th minute when the impressive Carey picked up a loose ball in the St. Eunan’s defence and fired to the net.
Kelly continued his exhibition of placed ball striking with two more frees to close the gap to the minimum. But Carey had the last word with a point in the final minute to leave two points between the sides at the finish.
Buncrana: Declan McCarron, Kieran Doherty, James Doherty, Conor Grant, Stephen Nelson, Peter Grant, Oisin Grant (1-0), Paul Nelson, Darren Doherty (0-1), David Carey (1-2), Dylan Duffy (0-1), Fiachra Gill, Caolan O’Neill (0-4 frees), Tom Clare (1-0), Ronan Walsh. Subs: Oisin Hegarty.
St. Eunan’s: Cian Hennessy, JP Curran, Conor McVeigh, Mark Mulholland, Ronan Kelly, Steven Doherty, Mark Connaughton, Sean Halvey, Peter Kelly (0-11, 0-10 frees), Paul O’Donnell (0-1), Ryan Hilferty (0-1), Eoin Scanlon (0-1), Gavin Forde, Chris Murray, Thomas Crossan. Subs: Russell Forde, Matt Ahern (0-1), Eoin Boyle.
