Eva Gallagher on song as Donegal secure their senior status
While Gallagher broke the deadlock with a fine point inside the opening 60 seconds, Leitrim squeezed in front courtesy of unanswered efforts by Muireann Devaney (a late addition to the starting line-up) and Ailbhe Clancy.
Yet Kilcar attacker Gallagher soon followed with her second point of the game and when Katie Dowds fed Susanne White close to goal on nine minutes, the latter fired smoothly into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.
Following traded scores between the influential Gallagher and Leah Fox, Donegal stretched six clear when Gallagher, Dowds and Mia Bennett split the uprights in quick succession.
However, after Laura O'Dowd (older sister of Dublin midfielder Eilish O'Dowd) cut Leitrim's deficit in half with a 19th minute goal, Fox's second of the day left just two points between the teams. Gallagher (her fifth of the half) and Clancy raised further white flags for their side as the action progressed, before Jodie McFadden fired home a second Donegal major on 24 minutes.
This propelled James Daly's Ulster side towards a 2-7 to 1-5 interval buffer and with Niamh Boyle, White and Bennett all on target, they enjoyed a whirlwind start to the second half.
Donegal remained in the driving seat after Gallagher and the ever-dangerous Devaney bagged two points apiece at either end of the pitch, but 2024 TG4 All-Ireland intermediate football championship winners Leitrim weren't prepared to go down without a fight.
In the space of eight minutes inside the final-quarter, Jonny Garrity's side outscored their O'Donnell counterparts by 0-5 to 0-1 – the impressive Devaney bagging four points to compliment a single contribution from Fox.
They subsequently received a potential lifeline when Devaney was fouled inside the small square on 58 minutes, but her resulting penalty was saved low by Donegal netminder Clare Friel.
This could have been the spark they needed to turn the tide in their favour, but with Gallagher and White knocking over late points for their opponents, Leitrim ultimately couldn't avoid a return to the intermediate championship for 2026.
Scorers - Donegal: E Gallagher 0-09, S White 1-02, J McFadden 1-00, M Bennett 0-02, K Dowds, N Boyle 0-01 each.
Leitrim: M Devaney 0-07 (6f), L O'Dowd 1-00, L Fox 0-03, A Clancy 0-02 (1f).
Donegal: C Friel; S McFadden, A Temple Asokuh, S McFeeley; B McLaughlin, E McGinley, C Gillespie; R Rodgers, M Bennett; S White, K Dowds, F McManamon; E Gallagher, J McFadden, N Boyle.
Subs: R McColgan for Rodgers (36), A Caulfield for Gillespie (40), E Boyle for McFadden (45), A McGranaghan for Bennett (52).
Leitrim: M Guckian; J Maye, C Tyrrell, E Quigley; D Beirne, C Owens, R McIntyre; N Tighe, A Quinn; A Gilmartin, V Egan, A Clancy; L Fox, M Devaney, L O'Dowd.
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Irish Examiner
19 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
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In the intervening 15 years, they'd lost 20 of their 27 summer HQ outings. And so, re-entry into football's high society is only the beginning for this Kildare group, announced Brian Flanagan. Kildare captain Kevin Feely lifts the cup after his side's victory in the Tailteann Cup final match between Kildare and Limerick at Croke Park. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile 'It is year one of what we hope will be four, and maybe more, but winning and lifting silverware was so, so important so you had that in the mentality and in the psyche going forward, because there's much bigger challenges lie ahead for us,' said the year one Kildare boss. 'What this year has done is proven that we deserve to be there in Division 2 and Sam Maguire. We've earned our spot in both. We didn't get it easy. We had to beat the best teams. I felt the winner of the Tailteann Cup was going to come from Westmeath, Offaly, Sligo, Fermanagh. "We beat Westmeath in Leinster, we beat the other three throughout this journey. Dealing with pressure and expectancy is something they've come through. 'People spoke about Croke Park having a bit of a hoodoo over Kildare teams in the last decade or more, so having back-to-back wins here now, for the psyche of the group, can only be a positive going forward. 'We're ambitious. We want to play as many games as we can here, but we know that there's a step up going into year two, but that's something we relish.' The psyche of the group was challenged in front of a swelling Croke Park crowd when Killian Ryan goaled for a two-point Limerick lead on 47 minutes. The Lilywhites had commanded a first-half lead of seven and second-half lead of five. Now they were chasing. Composure won out. A touch of class too. Nothing spectacular, but rather an at times confident execution of the simple when so many others were falling on this front. Limerick got off 11 shots following Ryan's goal. Four white flags was their 36% return. Danny Neville and Barry Coleman's two-point efforts fell short. Darragh Murray's goal drive was blocked. The four remaining opportunities went wide. Kildare, for contrast, engineered 14 scoring opportunities. Their return was 50%. Darragh Kirwan kicked a two-pointer into the breeze to tie matters at 2-15 to 1-18 immediately after the aforementioned Limerick two-point fails. 'It's everything that I would have wanted coming back from soccer,' said former professional-turned Kildare captain Kevin Feely. 'In my 10th or 11th season playing for Kildare, we finally get some silverware.' Scorers for Kildare: D Kirwan (0-8, 2 tps); A Beirne (1-2); B McLoughlin (tp), R Sinkey (0-3 each); C Bolton (tp), K Feely (free), C Dalton (0-2 each); T Gill, D Flynn (0-1 each). Scorers for Limerick: C Fahy, K Ryan (1-1 each); J Ryan (tp free, 0-1 '45), P Nash (free), J Naughton (0-2 frees), T McCarthy (0-3 each); E Rigter (0-2); T Childs, D Neville, R O'Brien (0-1 each). KILDARE: C Burke; R Burke, H O'Neill, B Byrne; T Gill, D Hyland, J McGrath; K Feely, B Gibbons; C Bolton, D Kirwan, C Dalton; R Sinkey, A Beirne, D Flynn. SUBS: J McKevitt for McGrath, B McLoughlin for Gibbons (both 43); E Cully for Flynn (47); M O'Grady for Burke (66). LIMERICK: J Ryan; J Hassett, D O'Doherty, M McCarthy; K Ryan, I Corbett, T McCarthy; T Childs, D O'Hagan; P Maher, C Fahy, D Neville; P Nash, E Rigter, J Naughton. SUBS: B Coleman for T Childs (temporary, 16-18); D Murray for O'Hagan (43); B Coleman for Maher (47); R Childs for Rigter (55); T Ó Siochrú for Corbett (61); R O'Brien for T Childs (66). REFEREE: L Devenney (Mayo).
Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
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Sunday World
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