HS football team of the week
June 29, 2015
St Tiernach's Park, Clones was the venue for the Derry versus Donegal Ulster SFC semi-final.
©INPHO/Presseye/Andrew Paton.
After an action-packed weekend of gaelic football, Dublin have five players on our team of the week while Donegal and Westmeath have three each.
1. Paul Durcan (Donegal)
The All-Star goalkeeper was alert to an early Enda Lynn goal chance in Clones on Saturday evening and, more often than not, found a team-mate with his kick-outs.
2. Dermot McBride (Derry)
The two-point defeat was hard luck on the Oak Leaf defender who was successful in curbing Patrick McBrearty's influence.
3. Simon Donohoe (Wexford)
The Model County celebrated a memorable qualifier victory over Down and Donohoe produced a polished defensive performance.
4. Johnny Cooper (Dublin)
While his forward colleagues generally hog all the limelight, the Na Fianna clubman goes about his business with the minimum of fuss.
5. Peter Harte (Tyrone)
Harte's injury-time goal applied the gloss to the Red Hands victory over Limerick but Mickey Harte will demand an improvement when they play host to Meath in the next round.
6. Kieran Martin (Westmeath)
The heartbeat of the Westmeath team, the Maryland ace led the fight-back against Meath and scored 2-3 from play.
7. Jack McCaffrey (Dublin)
McCaffrey in full flow is a delight to watch and, once again, he combined his defensive duties with frequent forays into enemy territory.
8. Paul Sharry (Westmeath)
Sharry's running game and intelligent use of possession posed plenty of questions which the Royal County's defence failed to answer.
9. Neil Gallagher (Donegal)
Was involved in the build-up to Martin O'Reilly's second-half goal and put in a workmanlike shift for the Tir Chonaill outfit.
10. Christy Toye (Donegal)
With space very much at a premium, the St Michael's clubman was a constant thorn in the side of the Derry defence.
11. Ciaran Kilkenny (Dublin)
The Castleknock playmaker finished with four points from play against the Lilywhites.
12. Diarmuid Connolly (Dublin)
Iinstilled panic in the Kildare defence every time he touched the ball and the St Vincent's ace finished with 2-3 to his credit.
13. Jamie Clarke (Armagh)
When their backs were against the wall, Clarke came to Armagh's rescue with two late goals against Wicklow in the Athletic Grounds.
14. John Heslin (Westmeath)
The talented full-forward was one of the main architects of the Lake County's first championship win over their neighbours at the 23rd attempt.
15. Bernard Brogan (Dublin)
2-3 from play represented a good afternoon's work for the former Footballer of the Year.
