Donegal Knocked out by Killester

Donegal Town 58 Killester 77
A poor opening quarter cost Donegal dearly as they were eliminated from the men’s national cup. Failure to adapt to Killester’s full court press in the opening quarter proved their undoing. After the opening ten minutes the home side trailed 27-10 and were struggling for any fluency in their offense. When Donegal did settle down they made good use of their height advantage with William Timoney and Jason Duignan both converting from open play and the free throw line. The start of the second was a much more spirited affair with a wider spread of scorers, Paul McHugh, Dillon Muldoon (4), John Kennedy and Jordan Carty all sinking shots to close the gap. Unfortunately the visitors knocked down three three pointers, one on the buzzer to stretch out the half-time lead to 50-20.
Donegal came back out fighting for the second half. They upped their defense enormously and began breaking down the Killester press. Paul McHugh shot two big three pointers and Ryan Malley was lightning quick off the fast break. Duignan demonstrated his athleticism getting up and down the court to finish off moves. Donegal narrowed the gap to 71-48 but had left themselves with too much to do. To their credit they kept playing to the end, with Malley, Muldoon, Carty and Timoney standing out at both ends of the court. They travel to fellow newcomers Tempelogue this Sunday in the league before entertaining Ulster Elks on Saturday 24th in a National League double header when the ladies also play Oblate Dynamos.
Donegal: William Timoney (7), Paul McHugh (16), John Kennedy (4), Ryan Malley (7), Jordan Carty (6), Dillon Muldoon (9), Jason Duignan (7), Simon Waugh (2).

Donegal men got back to winning ways in the north West League on Sunday, overcoming Ballyshannon 91-42. Jordan Carty and Ryan Malley led the scoring with 18 points each. Jason Duignan was the MVP knocking down 13 points while also contributing enormously on the defensive end. The Ladies also had a comprehensive victory over the weekend beating Kilcar 69-52. Tara Kahn led the scoring with 19, ably assisted by Rosa Devaney (11) and Julieanne Murphy (10). The U 14s and U16s went down to Sligo Giant Warriors losing 25-20 and 53-51 respectively. Eva Diver (5), Cara Meehan (5) and Noreen Boyle (4) all had great games for the u14s, while Holly Marie Carty (14), Bebhinn Naughton (12) and Ellen Campbell (11) starred for the u16s in what was the best game the club were involved in in a very busy weekend.