They defeated the Killygordon side in the fixture at the third time of asking, winning 2-9 to 0-14 after falling short in the two years previous.

The Eunan’s defence stood strong after the Cathedral town men started off the strongest of the two sides and held onto the lead for the duration of the game to earn the side their first Donegal SHC title since 1972.

The two goals that the Letterkenny team scored proved to be key as no individual player had more than one score from play for the side.

A Russell Forde goal had helped give Eunan’s a six-point lead before Setanta had got their first score.

The side from Killygordon got into the game eventually but the challengers’ defence and some inspirational scores gave them a half-time lead of 1-6 to 0-5.

Setanta started the second half strongly and were beginning to reel Eunans in but a super team goal that saw the sliothar in seven Eunans players’ hands ended with Kevin Kealy striking to the net.

Previous to this, goalkeeper Cian Hennessey had saved Eunan’s blushes with several important stops.

Their second goal returned their lead to six points and the defending champions rallied once more to get within a point of Eunans.

However, heroic work from the 14 Letterkenny men behind the sliothar saw the side hold out for their first SHC triumph in 49 years.

The shock win on Saturday brought an end to Setanta’s dominant two-year reign in the competition.

The championship victory is the icing on top of a fantastic year for the side, who had previously won the league in July.

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The match will be played at the home ground of Eunan’s, O’Donnell Park in Letterkenny, where the semi-finals were also held.

This will be the third year in a row that the two sides will play each other in the final stage of the county championship.

Setanta are looking to continue their period of dominance in Donegal and stamp out the threat of Eunan’s once again.

The challengers to their crown are hoping that it will be third time lucky as they aim to win their first Donegal senior title since 1972.

The pair earned the right to another rematch after wins over Burt and Buncrana respectively.

Eunan’s beat the record-holders by five points to progress to the final stage to the despair of Burt’s players and staff.

Burt have not reached the final since 2018 and are the last side to beat Setanta in the final, winning their 39th title by two goals.

Setanta brushed aside Buncrana, who could not match their intensity and tempo as they fell to a 20-point loss in Letterkenny.

The defending champions have won all six of their games in this year’s county hurling championship and are yet to see a side they face stay within ten points of them.

The Killygordon club have also only conceded 72 points after six games – an average of 12 points conceded per game.

Eunan’s are another high-scoring side but their defence allowed over 100 points in the round-robin games.

They will need to show that they have improved that facet of their game enough to stop Setanta’s attack from putting a cricket score past them.

Where To Watch

The match will kick-off at 3:30 pm and will be available to watch on a live stream. Alternatively, tickets are available here.

The post St Eunan’s v Setanta – Donegal SHC Final Preview, Where To Watch appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.

The Donegal JHC semi-finals will be held on that date and see Aodh Ruadh Ballyshannon and Setanta B, and Dungloe and Letterkenny Gaels fight it out for the two final berths.

The Senior semi-finals will be held on Sunday, October 10 and will see St Eunan’s and Burt, and Setanta and Buncrana face-off against each other for their place in the county final.

The Junior matches will be held at the Donegal GAA Centre in Ballybofey and both games will be played in the evening.

Dungloe and Letterkenny Gaels will be the earlier throw-in at 7 pm while Aodh Ruadh Ballyshannon and Setanta B will get started at 8:30 pm – both games will be under the lights.

The senior fixtures will take place in Letterkenny at the ground of St Eunan’s, O’Donnell Park.

The matches will be played in the afternoon on Sunday with Eunan’s kicking off proceedings when they welcome Burt into their home at 2 pm.

Defending champions Setanta will take on Buncrana in the later throw-in of the day at 4 pm.

Extra time will be used if required in any of the semi-finals across the two championships.

Setanta are looking for a third county title in a row and, should they beat Buncrana, familiar foes St Eunan’s may stand in their way, pending this weekend’s results.

A Setanta – St Eunan’s finals matchup is a familiar sight in the Donegal SHC, with three of the last four finals involving both sides.

Burt is the last team outside of those two to reach the county final and will be looking to repeat that feat this Sunday.

The last time the 39-time Donegal SHC winners reached the final, they won the championship, beating Setanta by two goals in 2018.

The most dominant side in the history of the competition will look to further underline that status, with a first final appearance in three years on the cards.

Buncrana will look to upset the odds and pull off a historic win against Setanta to reach the SHC final.

The side are in unknown territory in the semi-finals and their inexperience may cost them but an underdog is never to be underestimated.

Fixtures

Junior Hurling Championship Semi-finals

Fri, 08 Oct, Donegal GAA Centre, Convoy, Aodh Ruadh Ballyshannon V Setanta B, 8:30 pm, (extra time if required), James Connors
Fri, 08 Oct, Donegal GAA Centre, Convoy, An Clochán Liath V Letterkenny Gaels 7:00 pm, (extra time if required), James Callaghan

Senior Hurling Championship Semi-finals
Sun, 10 Oct, Páirc Uí Dhomhnaill, St Eunan’s V Burt 2:00 pm, (extra time if required), Aidan McAleer
Sun, 10 Oct, Páirc Uí Dhomhnaill, Setanta V Buncrana 4:00 pm, (extra time if required), James Connors

The post Donegal 2021 JHC & SHC semi-finals – Preview, Fixtures, Times appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.

Defending champions Setanta, record champions Burt, St Eunan’s and Buncrana have been confirmed as the semifinalists of this year’s championship.

Based on their placings in the final league table, the semi-finals will see Setanta play Buncrana and Burt play St Eunans for a spot in the county final.

However, dates and times are yet to be announced for these fixtures as well as the date and time of the county final.

Setanta came into this year’s instalment of the competition having won the previous two and continued their dominant run of form with five wins from five.

The Donegal senior hurling champions dominated proceedings in the round-robin format, winning every game by double digits.

The reigning champions have been a dominant force and do not look like stopping anytime soon.

The Killygordon club also had one of the best defences in the early stages, conceding only 66 points across all five games.

On top of this, the side have only conceded one goal in the championship so far the season – the least of any team.

However, Burt did concede less points across the five games, averaging only 12 points conceded per game.

4-35 of their final 4-48 total were conceded in the first two games to fellow semi-finalists Setanta and Buncrana.

Setanta were the only side to put over 20 points past them, scoring 3-20 in a statement win over the 38-time champions.

If they want to win a first county title in three years, they will need to improve on that first.

St Eunans have shown flashes of brilliance throughout the competition but have not done it as often as they would like to.

The Letterkenny side have scored three goals on two occasions in the competitions, as much as high-scorers Setanta and Buncrana, but have failed to be consistent.

The side also scored less than ten points on two occasions and were poor defensively in the final few games in the league section strong start to the championship.

Buncrana have been consistently brilliant in attack, on the other hand, but have conceded at least two goals in four of their five games so far.

Their attack is second only to Setanta’s and they are the only other side to have scored over 100 points in their five round-robin games.

However, they are also the only semi-finalists to have conceded over 100 points too, with the rest of the top four putting 88 past them combined.

All sides are only two games away from glory but the reigning champions seem best placed to achieve county dominance in Donegal once more.

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