DEPLETED DONARD NO MATCH FOR TINAHELY
Reds go clear at top of SFL Division 1A
TINAHELY easily accounted for an under-strength Donard-The Glen in Tinahely in the SFL Division 1A clash on Sunday morning.
Facing a strong Colm Morris coached home team the Donard side were missing some key men and they were unable to halt the march of the Tinahely men throughout this game despite a valiant effort.
At times Tinahely moved the ball exceptionally well and there were some fine scores from both teams.
At other times the play was careless, littered with errors and frustrating to watch.
It took three minutes for Tinahely's full forward, Tony Darcy, to swing over a lovely score with his left after a good ball from centre-half forward, Stephen Dillon.
Donard's Brian Lennon, who worked hard all through this clash, fired over a super score on the run a few minutes later.
Proof that sportsmanship is alive and well was produced in buckets moments later when Donard's Alan Daly was injured in the course of play. After hobbling to his feet he was ably assisted to the sideline by Tinahely's Alan Nolan and Stephen Dillon.
After play resumed, Jason Cush sent over Tinahely's second score after 12 minutes after a great ball by David Dillon out of his defence to start the move.
Tony Darcy was causing a few problems for the Donard men and he won a free that was swept over by Alan Nolan.
Donard were playing with an extra defender for most of this game with corner forward Des Mann drafted back from the attack. Whether it was an effective move is up for debate but what it did do was limit the effectiveness of the visitor's attack.
Feverish work from Darcy, who dispossessed a Donard defender, saw him grab Tinahely's fourth point of the game after 15 minutes.
Jason Cush made that five a moment later with midfielder David Dillon involved again. Alan Dillon and Tony Darcy completed Tinahely's scoring in the opening half and, following David Dillon's back card for a high tackle on Donard's Alan Daly the visitors rallied and fired over two scores of their own through Harry Mangan and Darren O'Neill to leave it 0-07 to 0-03 at the break for Tinahely.
In the second half it was more of the same. Tinahely's dominance was broken on several occasions by Donard who added six scores to their tally but it was the home side who pushed on and utilised their well-populated bench to good effect.
Three second half goals put this encounter to bed. The first was rocketed home by Jason Cush who pulled on a breaking ball on the ground and it arrowed into the bottom corner of the net.
The second came from substitute Paddy O'Rourke who captialised on some poor Donard defending to pounce for an opportunistic goal while the third goal came from Alan Dillon after a scintillating move up the pitch after 16 minutes of the second half.
Donard tried hard and Brian Lennon's point after 13 minutes of the second period was the pick of their bunch.
A comprehensive victory for Tinahely on a very pleasant Sunday morning. A difficult defeat for a depleted Donard-The Glen.
Tinahely: Stephen Nolan; James Gilbert, Michael Byrne, Conor Hatton; Damian Cullen, John Blake, Kevin Doyle; David Dillon, Alan Nolan; Brian Walsh, Stephen Dillon, Jason Cush; Oisin Furlong, Tony Darcy, Alan Dillon. Subs: Brendan Barnes, Paddy O'Rourke, David Blake, Jamie Cullen.
Donard-The Glen: James Corrigan; Kevin Osborne, Brendan Daly, Ronan Conron; Owen Kelly, Alan Tutty, Clifford Grace; Brian Lennon, Alan Daly; Harry Mangan, Edward Flynn, Darren O'Neill; Des Mann, Pat Flynn, Steve Pierce.