Moynalvey made the long journey to Rathkenny a profitable one when collecting the two points on offer in the first round of the 2014 A league defeating the home side on a 2-7 to 1-8 score line on Sunday afternoon February 16th.
Rathkenny 1-8 Moynalvey 2-7
Right from the first whistle it was the host side who were in control, leading 0-4 to 0-00 midway through the opening half. Moynalvey’s first score of the game arrived in the 15th minute when the lively Shane Lenehan fired over the bar. A trio of Rathkenny points and a converted free from Moynalvey’s Mark O’Sullivan in the second quarter left the half time score reading 0-7 to 0-2 in favour of the home side.
Thirty seconds after the restart Shane Lenehan posted his second point of the afternoon, which was followed by a David Reilly point in the 38th minute, leaving the margin between the sides at three points. Rathkenny looked to have secured the two points on offer when they held a commanding seven point lead on a 1-8 to 0-4 score line when they raised the first green flag of the game in the 51st minute. However Moynalvey resiliently brought the fight to the home side and a Mark O’Sullivan free and a goal from substitute Ciaran Ennis left just three between the sides with five minutes of normal time remaining. In the 58th minute the sides were level when a John Donoghue ’45 found its way to the back of the net via a deflection from the hands of a Rathkenny player. With momentum now on their side Moynalvey snatched victory late on with two Mark O’Sullivan points, one from a free and one from play, giving the visitors a two point victory on a 2-7 to 1-8 score line.
Moynalvey: O. Regan, C. McCabe, P. Donoghue, P. Conneely, D. Brennan, S. Donoghue, D. Branigan, J. Donoghue (1-0), D. Reilly (0-1), F. McCabe, M. O’Sullivan (0-4), J. Reilly, S. Lenehan (0-2), W. Harnan, B. O’Keeffe.
Replacements: B. Byrne for C. McCabe (black card), C. Ennis (1-0) for J. Reilly, B. Conneely for Harnan.