Moynalvey were edged out by home side Duleek/Bellewstown by a point in this round 2 back game of the Seamus Connolly Catering Div. 1B A league played at Tony Callaghan Park Duleek on Tuesday evening May 2nd.
Duleek/Bellewstown 0-16
Moynalvey 1-12
Boosted by the availability of county players Padraic Harnan and Cillian O’Sullivan along with the return of Brian Harnan, Moynalvey put in a much more spirited performance here than recent outings and will rue a couple of first half goal chances which went a begging.
It was the host side who opened the scoring in the first minute through Alan Bowden, with Daren Heeney doubling their advantage thirty seconds later.
Cillian O’Sullivan got Moynalvey’s opening score, leaving it 0-2 to 0-1 with three minutes played.
Points from Duleek/Bellewstown’s Alan Bowden and Elliot Lenehan pushed the home side’s advantage out to three points with six minutes played.
Vinny Walsh pointed Moynalvey’s second of the evening, with Duleek/Bellewstown replying with a brace from an Alan Bowden free and a Jamie Crosby mark to leave it 0-6 to 0-2.
A Ciaran Harnan point for Moynalvey left it double scores, 0-6 to 0-3, at the midway point of the first half.
A Darren Heeney point was countered by a long-range effort from Padraic Harnan to leave three between the sides once again with 20 minutes gone in the first half.
With a couple of smart saves from Duleek/Bellewstown goalkeeper Ryan Lynch denying Vinny Walsh and Cillian O’Sullivan raising green flags, it was Walsh who rounded off Moynalvey’s first half scoring in the 25th minute with his second of the evening.
Duleek/Bellewstown tagged on two further points through John Flood and Alan Bowden to lead 0-9 to 0-5 at half time.
Trailing by four points at half time, Moynalvey reeled their opponents in to level matters up at 1-7 to 0-10 ten minutes into the second half, with the superb fielding of Padraic Harnan in the middle third laying the platform for many second half attacks.
Moynalvey briefly took the lead for the first and only time in the 50th minute when Charlie McCormack split the uprights.
However, the home side had the perfect response to falling behind for the first time, reeling off five points without reply to lead 0-16 to 1-10 with five minutes remaining.
Trying as hard as they could to get something from the game, despite hitting another three points through Cillian O’Sullivan (2) and Vinny Walsh, time ran out on Moynalvey and the home side held out to edge this encounter by a point, 0-16 to 1-12, to go joint top of the table while Moynalvey remain rooted joint bottom of the table.
Next up for Moynalvey is Dunderry at home on Saturday evening at 6:30pm.
Moynalvey team & scorers:
Conor Egan, Cillian Kelly, Cathal McCabe, Darragh Branigan, Michael Brady, Brian Harnan, Cillian O’Sullivan (0-5, 3f), Donal Smith, Paul Corcoran, Padraic Harnan (0-1), Stephen Donoghue, Vinny Walsh (1-3), Ciaran Harnan (0-1), Darren Brennan, Charlie McCormack (0-1).
Subs: Craig Gilsenan (0-1) for Corcoran, Kyle O’Malley for C. Harnan, Eoin Corrigan for Smith, Adam Rooney for Brady.
