Mullahoran canter to title defence

September 24, 2007
A storming first half display which saw them engineer a commanding 14 points interval lead was all the cushion defending champions Mullahoran needed to easily retain (2-13 to 1-5) their Cavan SHC title at Kingspan/Breffni Park on Sunday afternoon last at the expense of an out-classed Woodford Gaels crew. St. Josephs won pulling up despite recording 16 wides over the hour-plus with their 2-8 to 0-0 interval lead giving them the sort of platform that never looked like being tumbled. Playing towards the town end of the field, Mullahoran signalled their intention in the opening few minutes with a point from Ronan O'Hagan being swiftly followed by a goal in the 4th minute by Stephen Brady who followed in after Woodford Gaels' Pat Geoghegan blocked two shots in quick succession. in terms of their stickwork and hand passing ability and the scores flowed accordingly with Barry McArdle's 24th minute goal doing most to unhinge Woodford's fast-fading hopes as they faced into a 0-0 to 2-5 deficit. As the second half got underway, a point three minutes into the second half by Paddy Devine from the standside of the pitch saw the Gaels up and running on the scoreboard. But order was restored within 90 seconds when points by Edward Dalton and Jonathan Dalton extended the leaders' advantage to 15 points. Another point from Michael O'Connell added to Woodford's woes and then Paddy Devine saw his speculative shot comfortably saved by Darren Sheridan. Daithi Neary added a free for Woodford in the 53rd minute and two minutes later Paddy Devine sold a neat dummy before slamming the sliothar into the net as the Gaels refused to go down with a whimper.

Most Read Stories