Moynalvey more than hold their ground

November 27, 2010
In their third year since rejoining the intermediate ranks, Moynalvey were drawn in a tough group that included eventual winners, Nobber, and didn't make it beyond the initial phase.

It took a final round win over Kilmainhamwood to secure the club's postition in the second tier of championship football.
A major plus is the work put in a underage level seems to be paying off. In addition there was great satisfaction at seeing one of their own, Liam Harnan, guiding Skryne to SFC honours.
The main event was the IFC. Things got off to a bad start with a heavy loss to St Colmcille's in the opening round. That was followed by a defeat to Nobber.
Having lost their opening two IFC Group A outings, safety was secured with wins over eventual runners-up Carnaross and Kilmainhamwood, who were later demoted to the junior ranks.
"Looking back it's was a bit disappointing to see two teams out of our group make the intermediate final, having beaten one of them. Nobber probably deserved it in the end.
"As regards ourselves, after the beating we got in the first round, we were probably happy to enough to maintain out status after coming up from junior three years ago," is PRO Paul Greene's summation of the year just passed.
Former Dunshaughlin selector T. P. Toolan took the reins from P. J. Cummins, who had guided Moynalvey to JFC honours in 2007.
It took Moynalvey some time to find their feet under new management as they attempted to make a serious bid for IFC honours. 
Billeted in Group A, Moynalvey got off on the wrong foot at Ashbourne on Friday, April 16 as St Colmcille's accelerated to a 3-11 to 1-2 interval lead.
Thereafter matters improved somewhat for Moynalvey who outscored the Seasiders by 2-4 to 1-4 over the remainder of the hour. Mark O'Sullivan top scored with 1-3 for the men in maroon and white.
Two weeks later, Simonstown was the setting for the round two meeting with Nobber. It was a much improved showing from Moynalvey with no goals being conceded.
The scores were tied twice in the opening period, but by half-time Moynalvey found themselves four points in arrears.
Moynalvey were chasing the game thereafter but despite falling seven points in arrears continued to hang in  there. A goal from substitute Ray Ryan and a seven points contribution from Mark O'Sullivan weren't sufficient on this occasion and the were five points off the pace, 1-9 to 0-17, at the finish.
In a five-team group it was Moynalvey's turn to be idle in round three. There next outing was 11 weeks later on Friday, July 16 at Bective where Carnaross provided the opposition.
This time Moynalvey made the early running with points from Mark O'Sullivan and former county player John Donoghue. Willie Byrne chipped in with a brace of points while another Ray Ryan goal - this time a soccer style finish -  gave them a six-point interval advantage, 1-6 to 0-3.
Carnaross tore into Moynalvey from the restart and quickly posted a brace of points. Over the remainder of the hour only two more scores were registered with Mark O'Sullivan sending over the sole second period score for the men in maroon.
Moynalvey finished with four points to spare 1-7 to 0-6 and seemed to have dented Carnaross hopes of reaching the business end of the competition.
In one sense the result was immaterial, even though they held a two-point advantage in the table going into their final round game with basement side Kilmainhamwood.
Apart from a boost to confidence, the win over Carnaross meant a draw with Kilmainhamwood would be sufficient to steer Moynalvey clear of the relegation process.
There was still understandable pressure on Moynalvey going into that final group game where defeat would have left them with a fight on their hand to retain their status.
"We would have been bottom had we lost. We knew that. We were fairly hungry going into it. We knew that before the Carnaross game. It was the Kilmainhamwood game that mattered to us most," Greene recalls. 
Sunday, August 8 was the day Moynalvey preserved their intermediate status with a minimum margin victory over Kilmainhamwood.
Kilberry was the venue for the round four fixture which proved to be a ding-dong affair with both sides enjoying two-point leads at different stages in the opening 30 minutes.
Mark O'Sullivan came close to goaling for Moynalvey but his effort was well-saved by Kilmainhamwood 'keeper Damien Russell. Ray Ryan volleyed the follow-up over the bar and the Cavan-border side led by 0-7 to 0-6 at the break.
Within minutes of the restart the sides were level for the third, and final time, when Mark O'Sullivan landed a free after he himself was fouled.
Having worked well to regain parity, Moynalvey soon found themselves 0-7 to 0-10 in arrears with barely two-thirds of the game gone.
Their season hinged on the next few minutes. Points from Mark O'Sullivan (free) and Willie Byrne trimmed the defecit to the minimum. Another Ray Ryan goal, again finished soccer style, put Moynalvey in front.
Heading into the latter stages they were five points clear, substitute William Harnan notching what proved to be their final and ultimately decisive score of the campaign.
A late Kilmainhamwood rally yielded a goal and a point, but Moynalvey held on for a 1-13 to 1-12 success and safety was assured.
Just two points separated the top four sides in Group A with Moynalvey finishing in fourth place. However, they had the worst defensive record due mainly to their concession of 27 points when losing to St Colmcille's in round one.  
Moynalvey's second string side enjoyed a great run in the JFC C, reaching the semi-final where they lost narrowly to eventual runners-up, Nobber.
They opened their campaign in Group A with a  3-19 to 0-3 win over Kilmainhamwood at Cortown in round one at the end of May. 
The men in maroon and white followed it up with a 1-12 to 1-8 success over Castletown at Walterstown on the eve of the Leinster SFC final. A week later, in their penultimate group game at Martry, Oldcastle were dispatched by 1-14 to 1-6. 
A double scores defeat, 0-11 to 4-10,  by eventual outright winners Donaghmore/Ashbourne in the final round robin outing meant Moynalvey had to settle for second spot in the group.
Simonstown Gaels' third string side were overcome by 2-11 to 1-10 in the quarter final at Dunderry where P. J. Walsh was the star of the show for Moynalvey scoring 2-3, including 1-3 in the opening-half which ended 1-4 apiece.
Bohermeen was the setting for the semi-final clash with Nobber where long-serving Cathal Sheridan put Ciaran Ennis through for an early goal.
Nobber hit back to lead by 1-5 to 1-2 at half-time. Heading into the latter stages, Moynalvey regained parity thanks to a trio of Ennis points.
That was as good as it got for Moynalvey as Nobber found that bit extra in the latter stages to book a final date with Donaghmore/Ashbourne.  "We were disappointed not to get to the final," says Greene looking back.
A failure to make an impression in the leagues is down to a bad start both in the Division 3 FL and B FL Division 3: "We got off to a bad start in the leagues. We were unsettled going into the year. It took a while to find our feet."
The Feis Cup draw was hard on Moynalvey as they were handed an opening round trip to Skryne. They hung-in for some time before falling 12 points short of their senior hosts in the opening round.
"We gave Skryne a good run for their money for 45-50 minutes. They pulled away in the last ten minutes being that little bit stronger. If we were up against another intermediate team it might have been a different result," Greene recalls.
Skryne were managed by Moynalvey's Liam Harnan and the club PRO was delighted to see the two-time All-Ireland SFC medal winner lead the Tara men to Keegan Cup glory.
"It's a fabulous achievement. Everyone in Moynalvey was behind him. I think most of Moynalvey were at the county final, supporting Liam and out on the field afterwards congratulating him. He took over a Skryne team that was going nowhere and is after bringing them right to the top".
With regard to Moynalvey's future, the club's highly efficient PRO is optimistic: "We're hoping that we can build on this year. We have a fairly good underage strategy. We are fielding in higher divisions than we did in previous years. We hope to be in the MFC next year."
Reasons to be optimistic for the future for the wears of maroon and white.  
 
 
 
 

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