Two goals in the final quarter from half-time substitute Padraig Harnan gave Moynalvey victory, by the narrowest of margins over their talented neighbours Dunsany, to qualify for their second successive minor final and now face Oldcastle.
Moynalvey 2 – 5 Dunsany 1 – 7
Dunsany will be very disappointed as they dominated possession for long periods, particularly in the first half. Dunsany started brightly and put real pressure on the Moynalvey goal only to see the woodwork, keeper Conor Egan and outstanding captain Sean Carroll deny them on numerous occasions. The Moynalvey defense were forced to cencede frees and Dunsany duly punished them as they went into a 0-4 to 0-0 score lead by the end of the first quarter. Moynalvey slowly got into the game and were rewarded by two points from Mark O’Sullivan, the first an excellent individual score and the second a free when Peter Hegarty was fouled. Dunsany responded to leave the half-time score 0-5 to 0-2.
The second half was a real humdinger of an affair with no quarter given or taken in a hard but fair game. Moynalvey needed a good start and got in with points from Cian Gorman and Tiernan Mahady. However Dunsany came back with a slick move and quality finish to goal and seemingly put them back in the driving seat. Points were traded with William Harnan converting a free for Moynalvey before Anthony Forde’s shot after an excellent run came back of the post and Padrag Harnan was on hand to fire to the net under pressure.
That brought Moynalvey to within a point but Dunsany were wayward with a couple of long range efforts that could have clinched it for them. Moynalvey broke from defense with a move started by the outstanding Cathal McCabe and carried on by Darren Brennan before Cian Gorman treaded the ball through to Padraig Harnan who turned his man before firing high to the roof of the net. That did not end the drama as Dunsany were awarded a penalty which came back off the post before pointing the rebound.
This was an excellent win for a Moynalvey team fielding 8 u16’s and they will now look to go one better after losing last years final by the narrowest of margins.
Moynalvey: Conor Egan, Sean Carroll, Shane Browne, Anthony Ford, Sean Burke, Cathal McCabe, Darren Brennan, William Harnan (0-1), Tiernan Mahady (0-1), Mark O’Sullivan (0-2), Peter Hegarty, Cian Gorman (0-1), Sean Egan. Subs: Padraig Harnan (2-0), David Reilly, Dane Hoban, Sean Dunleavy, James Kelly (inj).
