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St Eunan's and Naomh Conaill players battle for possession in today's game. INPHO/Presseye/Andrew Paton
AS IT HAPPENED

As It Happened: St Eunan's v Naomh Conaill, Donegal SFC final

After the glory of this year’s All-Ireland senior football triumph, Donegal football focused on club matters today with the senior decider down for decision. Here’s how the action developed.

It was county senior football final day in Donegal with Naomh Conaill facing St Eunan’s in Sean MacCumhaill Park in Ballybofey.

We were keeping an eye on how it all unfolded.

Send us your thoughts and comments on today’s game. E-mail fintan@thescore.ie, tweet us @TheScoreGAAfind us on Facebook, or leave a comment below.

RESULT: St Eunan’s 1-7 Naomh Conaill 0-9

It’s Donegal county final day in Ballybofey with St Eunan’s and Naomh Conaill bidding to be crowned champions at club level in the county that this year secured glory at inter-county level with September’s Sam Maguire triumph.

Here’s the Naomh Conaill team for today’s game.

NAOMH CONAILL: Stephen McGrath; Stephen Molloy, Johnny Bonner, Jason Campbell; Eoin Waide, Cathal Ellis, Marty Boyle; Anthony Thompson, Thomas Donaghue; Brendan McDyer, Leo McLoone, Daragh Gallagher; Dermot Molloy, Johnny McLoone, Leon Thompson.

And here’s the St Eunan’s team for the match.

ST EUNAN’S: John Paul Clarke; Eddie Brennan, Michéal Martin, Conor Parke; Peter Devine, Eamon Doherty, Mark McGowan; Rory Kavanagh, John Haran; Kevin Rafferty, Conall Dunne, Lee McMonagle; Conor Gibbons, Ross Wherity, Sean McVeigh.

Early scoring chance for St Eunan’s but corner-back Conor Parke sees his effort fall wide.

St Eunan’s 0-1 Naomh Conaill 0-0: 3 mins – Wing forward Lee McMonagle gets St Eunan’s off the mark by raising the first white flag of the game.

Plenty interest today to see how the inter-county stars fare in this game. St Eunan’s Rory Kavanagh and the Naomh Conaill trio of Leo McLoone, Anthony Thompson and Dermot Molloy all featured at some stage during Donegal’s famous All-Ireland final success over Mayo.

St Eunan’s 0-1 Naomh Conaill 0-1: 5 mins – Naomh Conaill draw level thanks to Daragh Gallagher who capitalizes on a chance to point a free from close range after Rory Kavanagh was penalized for over-carrying.

St Eunan’s 0-3 Naomh Conaill 0-1: 9 mins – St Eunan’s have started to get a grip on this game with Conall Dunne firing over a neat point after a pass from John Haran and then Sean McVeigh kicks over the bar confidently from the right wing.

St Eunan’s 0-3 Naomh Conaill 0-2: 16 mins – Neat point there by Leon Thompson for Naomh Conaill after he was picked out by a splendid long-range pass from Brendan McDyer. There was a slight chance of a goal when Thompson first collected the ball but he composed himself and was happy enough to tap over his point.

St Eunan’s 0-3 Naomh Conaill 0-3: 20 mins – Daragh Gallagher sweeps over a free for Naomh Conaill after Leon Thompson, who is emerging as a serious threat in the Naomh Conaill inside attack, was fouled by Damien McClafferty.

McClafferty was booked for that indiscretion, moments after being introduced to the St Eunan’s rearguard for Eddie Brennan.

St Eunan’s 0-4 Naomh Conaill 0-3: 23 mins – That is a wonderful point by Rory Kavanagh. The county man provides the inspiration for St Eunan’s as he steps in from the left and lofts over a splendid score from distance. That’s St Eunan’s first score in 14 minutes.

Kavanagh goes close to adding another point for St Eunan’s but this time his shot from the right wing goes wide at the near side.

St Eunan’s 0-4 Naomh Conaill 0-4: 27 mins – Naomh Conaill are back level on the scoreboard. Their latest point arrives from Donegal senior Leo McLoone and it arrived after some patient build-up as they sprayed the ball around the pitch. When it arrived to McLoone around 30 yards from goal, he had the time and space to pop the ball between the posts.

Naomh Conaill 0-5 St Eunan’s 0-4: 30 mins – Leo McLoone makes an impact again, this time in being fouled by the St Eunan’s defence in front of goal. That creates a straightforward chance for Dermot ‘Brick’ Molloy and he makes no mistake in tapping over the free with his left foot.

Naomh Conaill 0-6 St Eunan’s 0-4: Half-Time – Daragh Gallagher converts a close-range free in injury-time to hand Naomh Conaill a two-point lead at the break. The Glenties club started slowly and trailed by 0-3 to 0-1 after 9 minutes. But with the likes of Dermot Molloy and Leo McLoone starting to become more influential, Naomh Conaill have taken over. We’ll be back shortly with the second-half action.

The teams are back out and we’re getting set for the second-half action.

Nearly a dramatic start to the second-half action here with Leo McLoone moving along in the end line for Naomh Conaill and unleashing a left-foot drive that is well-blocked by St Eunan’s goalkeeper John Paul Clarke.

Naomh Conaill 0-6 St Eunan’s 0-5: 34 mins – St Eunan’s pull a point back courtesy of Conor Gibbons after Ross Wherity is fouled by Johnny Bonner and Gibbons converts the resultant free.

Naomh Conaill 0-7 St Eunan’s 0-5: 36 mins – That is a fantastic point by Dermot Molloy for Naomh Conaill. He strikes over from distance to restore Naomh Conaill’s two-point advantage.

Naomh Conaill 0-8 St Eunan’s 0-5: 40 mins – Leon Thompson nearly prises apart the St Eunan’s defence to power through to grab a goal but is fouled by Conall Dunne and their appeals for a penalty after waved away. Yet Naomh Conaill remain composed and from their next attack Dara Gallagher splits the posts for his fourth point of the day.

Naomh Conaill 0-8 St Eunan’s 0-6: 44 mins – At a time when Naomh Conaill are threatening to take over, St Eunan’s grab a badly needed point. It arrives courtesy of Mark McGowan with Kevin Rafferty the creator of the chance. The Letterkenny based club are still in the reckoning here.

St Eunan’s 1-6 Naomh Conaill 0-9: 53 mins – Apologies for the delay, a couple of technical problems but we’re back on track. A dramatic spell of play sees the teams level with Lee McMonagle firing to the net for St Eunan’s, Dara Gallagher replying with a point for Naomh Conaill and then David McGinley sent off for St Eunan’s.

Still all square with five minutes to go. That St Eunan’s goal was a sublime strike with McMonagle blasting a terrific shot to the net after Ross Wherity gathered a fine pass by Rory Kavanagh and fed it off to McMonagle.

St Eunan’s 1-7 Naomh Conaill 0-9: 58 mins – Could Mark McGowan be the hero for St Eunan’s? The wing-back has just slotted over a ’45 to put his side into a one-point lead.

That point arrived in bizarre circumstances after Naomh Conaill’s Brendan McDyer attempted to play a sideline ball back to his own goalkeeper but instead hit it over his own end line and conceded the ’45.

Dara Gallagher has a chance to tie the game when Naomh Conaill are awarded a long-range free but his effort from distance tails to the right and wide. We’re in injury-time in Ballybofey.

FULL-TIME: St Eunan’s 1-7 Naomh Conaill 0-9: St Eunan’s are crowned champions as they hold on for a one-point win in the decider in Ballybofey.

A dramatic finale as fourteen-men St Eunan’s hold on for a one-point success against Naomh Conaill. Mark McGowan is the hero as he converts that ’45 while Lee McMonagle struck home the crucial second-half goal that vaulted them back into contention. It’s heartbreak for Naomh Conaill but joy for St Eunan’s as the Letterkenny-based club win their 13th title and their first since 2009. That’s all from us today, thanks for joining us.

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