Emyvale 1-6 Aughnamullen 1-5 This was a game that produced a plethora of missed chances and one in which mistakes abounded but both sides deserve full credit for producing a stirring performance that was in the balance right until the final whistle. Conditions on the evening were difficult with an increasing wind causing problems and the heavy rain that fell at times too did not help with footwork and ball handling difficult. The conditions may have contributed to some of the scrappy play but they were in no way responsible for a series of missed chances by both sides that could have seen the game go either way. Emyvale can look back and claim that they could have won the game by more as they spurned a number of clear-cut goal chances but Aughnamullen too were somewhat wasteful as they kicked nine wides in total with a near miss in injury time that could well have seen them put the issue to a replay. Aughnamullen could quite justifiably claim too that with this being their third game in ten days that they tired somewhat but on the day they came up against a resolute Emyvale side who fought tooth and nail for everything. In any analysis Emyvale will have to acknowledged that their defence, particularly their full back line was the sheet anchor for this performance and victory while Brendan O'Brien at centre back along with Brendan McKenna in midfield and Martin McAree worked to give them a foothold in that vital middle third. Up front Darren Farmer did most of the scoring and could well have finished with a greater tally but his 1-3 went a long way to helping Emyvale to victory. Jonathan Murrough was outstanding at full-back and repeatedly thwarted Aughnamullen with good support particularly from John Flannery at left corner. For Aughnamullen all the usual suspects were involved with Aidan Duffy and Lee Conlon manning the central defensive positions until Duffy was strategically withdrawn later. Colm Flanagan was again directing operations but perhaps not with the same authority given the intense nature of the exchanges and Sam Dooney again showed that he is one to watch. Thomas Hughes and Aidan Flanagan tried hard out around the middle with Hughes at times dropping back to help out both in defence and also pushing forward into attack while Chris Keenan, Mark Meegan and Pete Dooney were always in the action. At the end of a low scoring first half Aughnamullen led by a single point, 0-2 to 0-1 with the level of finishing improving in the second-half as the sides traded goals in an action packed third quarter. Entering the final 10 minutes the sides were level with Emyvale then opening a two points lead only to be hauled back to parity with two minutes remaining. Darren Farmer converted a free entering the final minute following a foul on Adrian McGee and that ultimately proved to be the winner even though the last minutes produced goalmouth incidents at both ends. Teams and Scorers: Emyvale: Stephen McAree, Ciaran Connolly, Jonathan Murrough, John Flannery, Sean McMeel, Brendan O'Brien 0-1, Gregory Devlin, Brendan McKenna, Lorcan McGee, Patrick J McKenna, Darren Farmer 1-3 (2f), Robert McHugh, Martin McAree 0-2, Gerard McCaffrey, Adrian McGee. Subs: Killian McKenna for R McHugh, Brendan Askin for G McCaffrey, Emmett Colleran for A McGee. Aughnamullen: Alan Gilliland, Damien Hamilton, Aidan Duffy, Liam O'Neill, Sam Dooney, Lee Conlon, Colm Flanagan 0-1, Thomas Hughes, Aidan Flanagan, Edmund McArdle 0-1, Seamus Deery, Mickey Keenan, Chris Keenan 1-1, Mark Meegan 0-1, Pete Dooney 0-1. Subs: Ciaran McKeown for A Duffy, David Shevlin for E McArdle. Referee: Ciaran Mulligan (Aghabog). Tweet

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