St. Michaels 2-10, Moynalvey 2-10

The new St. Michaels management team of Ciaran Conlon, Jim Greene and Tom Halpin will have mixed feelings after this opening round fixture at bitterly cold Carlanstown last evening. This was a game that the home side should have won, but didn't and a game they could easily have lost but for a well  executed levelling free off the ground from 35 meters by Peter O'Connell as the game entered injury time.  In fairness, Moynalvey deserved a share of the spoils as they took the game to St. Michaels and enjoyed long spells of dominance in the second half as they overturned a two point half time deficit. 

A lack-lustre opening half dominated for the most part by St. Michaels who led at the interval by 0-6 to 0-4 with points from Ciaran Lynch 0-3 (all frees) and a point apiece from Kevin Cassidy, Peter O'Connell (45) and Ronan Lynch. Darren O'Connell pulled off a brilliant save on a goal bound shot to keep his side in front as the game approached half time.                                                     

The second half was a much livelier affair after some good team work resulted in Ronan Lynch finding the back of the net in the opening minute to put the home side 5 points to the good, however Moynalvey replied in kind and in the following two minutes they bagged 1-1 to bring it back to a one point game. The visitors were on a roll now and by the 36th minute they had their second major on the scoreboard, two more unanswered points followed before a pointed free from Ciaran Lynch stopped the rot for St. Michaels. Then on 43 minutes Kevin Cassidy was grounded by the visitors 'keeper as he was about to shoot on goal which resulted in the Moynalvey custodian receiving a black card and substitute Jamie Farrelly converting the resulting penalty to level the match.  Back came Moynalvey with two points in as many minutes, again St. Michaels were playing catch-up and a point apiece from brothers Davy and Ronan Lynch levelled matters once more on 52 minutes. Seven minutes elapsed before the next score which was a fisted effort from Moynalvey for the lead point, they then had to fight a rearguard battle in the final minutes to contain St. Michaels who squandered opportunities to gain parity which eventually came when O'Connell fired over the leveller in the dying seconds of injury time after Jamie Reilly was brought down heading goalwards.

Ciaran & Davy Lynch, Philip Rogers, Jamie Reilly, Kevin Cassidy & Oran Meehan were prominent for St. Michaels who meet Drumbaragh in the next round.    

St. Michaels team and scorers: Darren O'Connell, Adam O'Brien, Jamie Reilly, Sam Briody, Matthew Halpin, Philip Rogers, Christopher Drew, Mark Stafford, Davy Lynch 0-1, Ciaran Lynch 0-4, Ronan Lynch 1-2, Peter O'Connell 0-2, Ray Reilly, Kevin Cassidy 0-1, Oran Meehan.        

Subs: Paddy Clarke for Sam Briody, Jamie Farrelly 1-0 for Ray Reilly, Ben Tobin for Ciaran Lynch.                                                                                         Referee: Jack Gordon.                                                                                                     

Report: Pascal Reilly.

Moynalvey Report

Moynalvey came away from Carlanstown with a point after sharing the spoils with St. Michaels, with both sides finishing with 2-10 apiece in this opening round Division 2 A league game played under lights on Friday night 5th February.   

St. Michaels 2-10 Moynalvey 2-10

The new Moynalvey management team of Paul Harnan, Denis O'Shea & Brendan Kealy may feel somewhat aggrieved at not pushing on to claim to the two points on offer here having turned a five point deficit into a four point advantage within a 10 minute period after the restart, however over the 60 odd minutes of football a draw was a fair result.

In a game played in bitterly cold underfoot conditions, it was visitors Moynalvey who opened the scoring in the 3rd minute when corner forward James Weldon split the uprights. Forty seconds later the home side opened their account with the first of their two first half points from open play, and a further converted free and '45 left them 0-3 to 0-1 to the good after 11 minutes.

Ciaran Ennis put in a fine first half shift for the men in maroon and white, chipping in with a point in the 14th minute, leaving just a kick of a ball between the sides. Two points for the Michaels' were countered by Moynalvey's top scorer Mark O'Sullivan who sent over the 1st of his seven scores in the 22nd minute, leaving the score board reading 0-5 to 0-3.

St. Michaels furthered their advantage with their sixth point and fourth from placed balls in the 27th minute. Two minutes later a fine save from the home side's Darren O'Connell denied Moynalvey's James Weldon with the game's first real goal scoring chance. An O'Sullivan free which landed in over the bar with the aid of the upright in injury time saw the half time score read 0-6 t0 0-4 in favour of St. Michael's.

Moynalvey found themselves even further adrift of their opponents when a shot at goal looped into the top corner of Moynalvey net minder Conor Egan's goal for the game's first green flag two minutes after the restart. Moynalvey's response was immediate with half time substitute Dan Treacy firing over a superb point within sixty seconds. Two goals in the 4th & 6th minutes of the half, the first blasted home from an acute angle by James Weldon and the second finished soccer style by Mark O'Sullivan saw Moynalvey regain the lead for only the second time. Another O'Sullivan brace completed the nine point turnaround to put Moynalvey four points ahead, 2-7 to 1-6 after 10 minutes of the second period.
A St. Michael's free was followed by a converted penalty following Kevin Cassidy being hauled to the ground by Moynalvey goalie Conor Egan, which resulted in Egan being shown a black card. The scores were now level for a second time, 2-7 apiece, on the three quarter hour mark.

Substitute Dominic O'Brien pointed on his competitive debut for Moynalvey in the 46th minute and three minutes later O'Sullivan sent over his second point from play to give Moynalvey a two point advantage. Two St. Michaels's points within 45 seconds of each other in the 52nd minute had the sides' level for a 3rd time.

St Michaels' were unable to take the lead in the final few minutes and were guilty of some poor finishing. Moynalvey looked to have done just enough to claim victory in the 1st minute of additional time, when a long ball in over the top from Stephen Donoghue was claimed by Mark O'Sullivan to race clear of his marker and fist over. However a superb pointed free from St. Michaels' Peter O'Connell in the 5th minute of injury time ensured a draw was the result.

Moynalvey: C. Egan, S. Browne, C. McCabe, D. Brennan, E. Walsh, S. Donoghue, A. Brien, D. Smith, D. Reilly, J. Kelly, J. O'Neill, S. Lenehan, C. Ennis (0-1), M. O'Sullivan (1-6, 3f), J. Weldon (1-1).
Subs: C. Harnan, D. Treacy (0-1), R. Lawless, D. O'Brien (0-1), J. Munnelly.

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