Injured Eoghan Bán Gallagher to miss third consecutive Donegal match

Eoghan Bán Gallagher will not be available for Donegal’s Division Two fixture against Louth this Sunday.

The defender missed his side’s last two games because of a groin injury and is not due to return for this weekend’s round five encounter in Ballyshannon.

The Killybegs clubman suffered the injury during Donegal’s victory over Cavan at the start of February, which forced him off just before the interval in that encounter. He played no part in the subsequent win over Fermanagh or last Sunday’s draw against Armagh. The Donegal management have confirmed they will not have him for the Louth game either while it remains to be seen if he will be available for the final two rounds of the league – away to Kildare or at home to Meath.

The former All Star nominee, who is expected to be a key player for Jim McGuinness this season, came off the bench during Donegal’s league opener against Cork in Ballybofey at the end of January and started the round two match against Cavan. Donegal are unbeaten in this year’s league, with three wins and a draw seeing them share top of the Division Two table with Armagh.

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Sunday’s encounter with Louth will be Donegal’s third home game in this year’s league and sees them line out at a third different venue in the county as they continue a policy of rotating between Ballybofey, Letterkenny and Ballyshannon.

“From a Donegal point of view, we enjoy getting around them all,” said Ryan McHugh.

“I’ve no complaints, we love every pitch we go to. We’ve a good record in Ballyshannon, hopefully we can carry that on next week.”

Meanwhile, 179 Ulster GAA clubs have been awarded funding through the provincial council’s Club Infrastructure Development Grant.

It is the highest number of clubs to receive financial support from Ulster GAA in a single year, with the total distribution amounting to just under €700,000.

The aim of the scheme is to assist clubs in the improvement and development of their physical infrastructure – including the purchase of grounds, pitch development, pavilion development and pitch drainage.

The breakdown of the €696,658 distribution is as follows:

Tyrone, 34 clubs (€166,371); Down, 23 clubs (€66,460), Derry, 22 clubs (€84,307); Cavan, 20 clubs (€87,442); Armagh, 18 clubs (€30,569); Donegal, 17 clubs (€68,574); Antrim, 17 clubs (€58,814); Monaghan, 16 clubs (€65,131); Fermanagh, 12 clubs (€68,990).

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