IFC: Hunterstown off to a great start
July 14, 2014
Paddy Mooney of Hunterstown Rovers
A first half goal from Brendan Lennon and a late strike from substitute, Paddy Taaffe helped Hunterstown Rovers get their Intermediate Championship campaign off to a winning start at Stabannon on Saturday night.
The reigning Junior champions had the better of things for much of the match but made hard work of putting the game to bed and had to endure a nervy ending before claiming both points.
The Mochtas were not at the best in the opening but, inspired by the introduction of Declan Byrne in the second half they almost pulled off an impressive comeback.
The Louth player kicked four points and helped set up a goal for Barry Murphy as they cut the gap to one point entering injury-time. In the end it was Hunterstown's greater threat in attack that saw them through as Taaffe's late goal finally settled the issue.
While the Mochtas can take heart from their battling second half display, they will regret a couple of defensive slips in the first half that allowed Hunterstown find the target. The most crucial came in the 17th minute when they failed to cut out a Keith Brennan's astute through ball and Brenan Lennon finished to the net in impressive fashion.
That score capped an impressive opening quarter for Rovers in which they played some good attacking football and gave them a deserved 1-3 to 0-2 lead.
They had made a flying start with points from Ryan Ward and Brendan Lennon inside the opening two minutes. Although they were cancelled out by Eamonn O'Neill and Ultan Larney, a Ryan Burns free had Hunterstown back in front before the goal put his side firmly in control.
However, Hunterstown failed to build on that display in the second quarter and only added two further points from Burns and Carrie in reply to a Nigel Farrell score to lead by 1-5 to 0-3 at half time.
The Louth Village men were boosted by the introduction of Byrne at the break but were made pay for missed chances early on as Glen Matthews and Paul Carrie extended the gap to seven points on 35 minutes.
St Mochtas responded to the challenge with three points in two minutes from Eamonn O'Neill (2) and Byrne to give their side hope.
Glen Matthews almost found the net at the other end when his effort was tipped over by Conor Ryan, but Eamonn O'Neill cancelled out that score on 20 minutes to make it 1-8 to 0-7.
Declan Byrne had strong claims for a penalty waved away and although David Lennon pointed in the aftermath, his side's hopes looked to be all but over when Lennon and Carrie fired over to increase the gap to 1-10 to 0-8 after 29 minutes.
The Mochtas still refused to give up and when Philip Englishby was denied by a fine save after being set up by Byrne, substitute Barry Murphy cleverly fisted the ball to the net from the rebound and soon after Byrne fired over to leave just a point between the sides.
The Louth Village men went in search of the equaliser but a handling error handed possession to Hunterstown and they punished the mistake when a quick counter attack resulted in Taaffe sweeping the ball to the net.
Danny Kindlon hit back with a point but time ran out before the Mochtas had a chance to force a draw with a second goal. Ryan Burns left his mark on the match with a superb final point from a line ball with the outside of his boot to seal victory.
HUNTERSTOWN: Niall Carrie; Ciaran Carrie, Paul Taaffe, Muiris O'Sullivan; David Finn, Conor Mattews, Martin Lennon; Tony McKenna, Ryan Ward 0-1; Brendan Lennon 1-1, Ryan Burns 0-2, Keith Brennan; Glen Matthews, Paul Carrie 0-1, Paddy Mooney. Subs: Niall Taaffe for R Ward, Paddy Matthews for M O'Sullivan, Robbie Clarke for T McKenna, Paddy Taaffe 1-0 for D Finn.
ST MOCHTAS: Conor Ryan; Donal Gernon, Barry Mulholland, Liam Lawlor; Philip Englishby, Darren McMahon, Paul Marron; Gareth O'Reilly, Shane McMahon; Andrew English, Nigel Farrell 0-1, Martin McGahon; Ultan Larney 0-1, Liam McGranaghan, Eamonn O'Neill 0-4. Subs: Declan Byrne 0-4 for L McGranaghan, David Lennon 0-1 for M McGahon (BC), Danny Kindlon 0-1 for P Marron, and Barry Murphy 1-0 for A English.
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