Whilst the final scoreboard might show an emphatic Moynalvey victory, this game was far from easy as local rivals Summerhill put it up to the men in maroon for 40 minutes of this game before fading in the final quarter.
Moynalvey 3 – 9 Summerhill 0 – 6
Summerhill started brightly hitting the Moynalvey crossbar in the first minute before Moynalvey settled and points by Mark O’Sullivan, Cathal Sheridan and PJ Walsh had Moynalvey 0 – 3 to 0 – 0 ahead after 15 minutes. Further points from Sheridan and John Donoghue accompanied by a Sheridan goal after a well worked move had Moynalvey 1 – 5 to 0 – 2 ahead at the interval. Summerhill’s points came from 2 frees although they did waste chances to score more.
With Moynalvey losing both full back and captain Padraig Donoghue and full forward Cathal Sheridan to injury just before half time, Summerhill sensed their opportunity and came storming out of the blocks at the start of the second half. Four unanswered points to the underdogs left the score at 1 – 5 to 0 – 6 with 20 minutes remaining and Moynalvey seemed to be in danger.
However, Moynalvey began to get control around the middle of the field and proceeded to dominate the remainder of the game. Points from Robbie Quinlan (2), and a John Donoghue goal pushed the men in maroon 7 points ahead on a scoreline of 2 – 7 to 0 – 6 with 10 minutes remaining and a further 1 – 1 from substitute James Weldon and a final point from Willie Byrne left Moynalvey a flattering 12 points clear in the end.
This result puts Moynalvey top of a tight group on scoring difference with the next game up being against St Brigids.
Team & scorers – O Regan, R Kiernan, P Donoghue, D Donoghue, P Weldon, D Dixon, A Brien, B Conneely, S Donoghue, W Byrne (0 – 1), J Donoghue (1 – 1), R Quinlan (0 – 2), M O’Sullivan (0 – 1), Cathal Sheridan (1 – 2), PJ Walsh (0 – 1). Subs – D Kane for P Donoghue, B Gilsenan for C Sheridan, J Weldon (1 – 1) for PJ Walsh.
