MATTOCK RANGERS 3-6

ST MOCHTAS 0-14            

Mattock Rangers remain on course to return to the Senior ranks at the first time of asking after holding out to defeat St Mochtas by a point in Friday night's Intermediate Championship semi-final.

The Collon men, who will now play St Josephs in the final, built up a nine-point lead inside the first 14 minutes but were almost made to pay for a lacklustre performance thereafter as a gallant Mochtas comeback fell just short.

The championship favourites began the game in blistering fashion with a goal inside 15 seconds from Ryan Leneghan.

Declan Byrne responded with a point for the Mochtas but his side suffered another blow on ten minutes when an error by Conor Ryan allowed Robbie Brennan to tap home from close range.

It got even worse on 12 minutes when Adrian Reid added a third goal after a great passage of play with his brother, David, and when the younger brother added a point on the quarter hour his side appeared to be cruising with a lead of 3-1 to 0-2, despite playing into the breeze.

However, determination has been one of the hallmarks of the Mochtas championship journey and they produced it again in abundance in the second quarter. Four points from Byrne and another from O'Neill saw them cut the gap at half time to 3-1 to 0-7.

Early scores from Nigel Farrell and Ultan Larney had the deficit down to just two points and the Mochtas were very much on top.

Crucially, they were unable to get the gap as the Collon side used every ounce of their experience to stay in front. David Reid proved to be the hero as he landed five second half points to ensure victory, although Mochtas supporters were particularly unhappy that three of those scores came from controversial frees.

Late points from Gareth O'Reilly and Declan Byrne left if a one-point game going into injury-time, but they were unable to find the equaliser their efforts deserved.

MATTOCK RANGERS: Mike Englishby; James Caraher, Cathal Clarke, Sean Gilsenan; David Brennan, Daire Englishby, Aaron O'Brien; Ciaran Calvey, Ryan Leneghan 1-0; Christy Grimes, Terry Donegan, Adrian Reid 1-1; Shane Grimes, Robbie Brennan 1-0, David Reid 0-5. Subs: Conor Leneghan for R Brennan, Daniel Bannon for C Calvey, Jason McKeown for S Grimes, Niall Sharkey for C Clarke.

ST MOCHTAS: Conor Ryan; Barry Murphy, Liam Lawlor, Donal Gernon; Gareth O'Reilly 0-1, Darren McMahon, Barry Mulholland; Shane McMahon, Eamon O'Neill 0-3; Ultan Larney 0-1, Declan Byrne 0-8, Danny Kindlon; Stephen McCooey, Nigel Farrell 0-1, Gavin Breen. Subs: David Lennon for B Murphy, Emlyn Clerkin for G Breen, Cormac Callan for D Gernon, Martin McGahon for N Farrell.

Tweet

Most Read Stories