Sean Connollys 2-04 Moydow Harpers 1-04
On sunny good Friday evening in Maguire Park Ballinalee, Moydow Harpers attempted to kick-start their division 2 campaign against fellow strugglers Sean Connollys. With both teams without a win in this competition so far this season, a crucial contest was in store.
The Harpers started well, gaining their fair share of possession in midfield and dealing competently with most Sean Connolly attacking efforts. When in possession, however, numerous Harpers attacks broke down in the final third of the pitch. With both defences on top, the first 15 mins of the game was mainly absent of scoring threats.
This all came to an end, half-way through the first half, when the Harpers defence was caught napping when an over-the-top ball into the hands of the Connollys full forward was planted to the back of the net.
This sparked the Harpers into a mini-resurgence and they responded with 2 well struck shots by Paul Stewart and a fine left footed effort from Niall Keenan. The Harpers come-back was then dealt a deadly blow when a high ball into the square wasn’t dealt with adequately and ended up in the back of the net.
Halftime: Sean Connollys: 2-01 Moydow Harpers 0-03
The second half started in similar fashion to the first half with both defences on top. The referee (not to be named for legal reasons) was also starting to play his part in deciding the outcome of the game with some controversial decisions.
With limited scoring opportunities, the game was always on a knife-edge and continued this way until the final whistle. Moydow reduced the lead mid-way through the half with a cracking goal by Mark Quinn following excellent build up play. However, indiscipline in the Harpers defence along with the aforementioned refereeing decisions compounded to keeping Connollys edging ahead, converting 3 frees in the closing stages of the game.
Team: Brendan Conway, Chad Costello, Conor Keenan, Matthew ‘Gooch’ Lee, Luke Costello, Sean Farrell, David Tiernan, Fergal Keenan, Niall Keenan (0-01), Ronan Mac an Beatha, Mark Quinn (1-00), Cathal Hilliard, Tom Hobin, Paul Stewart (0-03) and Gerard Slevin.
Subs: Shane Connell for Gerard Slevin.
