An under strength Moynalvey outfit got the better of home side Curraha on a six point margin in this Div. 3 B League game played on Tuesday evening 16thAugust.
Curraha 2-8 Moynalvey 1-17
Moynalvey took a step closer to promotion and a place in the final with this penultimate round win, their seventh win from eight outings to date, with a final round home tie against Ballinlough awaiting.
Visitors Moynalvey led this game from start to finish, leading by four at half time with six between the sides at the full time whistle. Moynalvey couldn’t have got off to a better start, with David Reilly splitting the uprights in the 2nd minute and three minutes later Ciaran Ennis had the ball in the back of the Curraha net.
Niall Moriarty opened the home side’s account in the 7th minute which was followed by a Ciaran Ennis converted free for Moynalvey, the first of his nine scores for the evening. David Reilly sent over his second of the evening in the 11th minute, within 40 seconds of Reilly’s score Curraha’s David Coyle pointed the 1st of his four points to leave the score 1-3 to 0-2.
A Ciaran Ennis free was countered by Curraha’s Niall Moriarty, before the game’sfirst goal arrived in the 20th minute. A ball was centred high in the square and Curraha full forward Robert Mooney rose above Moynalvey full back David Kane to fist home to the corner of the net past Moynalvey’s stand in goal keeper Joe Munnelly, reducing the margin to the minimum, the nearest the home side would get to their opponents throughout the contest.
Moynalvey’s reply to this setback was excellent, reeling off four unanswered points, two from Ennis and a point apiece from Stephen Cummins and Anthony Brien to extend Moynalvey’s advantage to five points heading for the break. Just on the stroke of half time Curraha centre forward Pauric Hanrahan pointed to leave the half time score 1-8 to 1-4.
After ten minutes of the second half the margin between the sides remained four with Lockie Keogh & David Coyle pointing for Curraha and Moynalvey’s brace two huge points from out the field from Ciaran Ennis and Stephen Cummins. It seemed Cummins could do little wrong, pointing once again in the 41st minute which was followed by a Padraig Donoghue point to put some daylight between the sides, 1-12 to 1-6.
David Coyle converted his second placed ball of the evening in the 46th minute, before Moynalvey lost corner back Shane Browne to a black card in the 48th minute, with Coyle converting the resultant close range free to reduce the deficit to four. For the second time in the game Moynalvey reeled off four unanswered points between the 49th and 56th minutes. Stephen Cummins scored his fourth of the evening, Ennis with a free and an effort from play after two men who came out of retirement for this game Ciaran Collins & David Durkan combined to set up Ennis, the 4th point coming from Collins following his brief rest on the bench after being re-introduced to replace Browne, leaving it 1-16 to 1-8 with four minutes remaining.
Curraha scored a late consolation goal after a goal mouth scramble saw the ball dribble over the line through the hands of Moynalvey ‘keeper Joe Munnelly. Moynalvey’s Ennis rounded off his personal tally of 1-8 with a late free to leave six between the sides at the full time whistle.
Moynalvey: Joe Munnelly, Eoghan Mitchell, David Kane, Shane Browne, Anthony Brien (0-1), Padraig Donoghue (0-1), Darragh Branigan, Paul Conneely, Dominic O’Brien, Robbie Kiernan, Ciaran Ennis (1-8, 4f), David Reilly (0-2), Stephen Cummins (0-4), Ciaran Collins, Johnny Carey.
Subs: David Durkan for Collins, Collins (0-1) for Browne (B. Card).
