Na Fianna overcame Moynalvey with seven points to spare in the final of the Tommy Dowd Oil sponsored Division 3 A League played in Trim on Sunday afternoon December 9th.
Moynalvey 0-12 Na Fianna 2-13
The clash of the two most recent winners of the Intermediate Championship went the way of the current Mattie McDonnell cup holders. The two clubs met in the opening round of the A League on February 19th, with the Enfield/Baconstown combination coming out on top that day aswell. After that opening round clash both teams went on unbeaten league runs to qualify for the final. Na Fianna’s greater run of recent competitive football in comparison to Moynalvey’s long layoff showed, as they were sharper in most areas of the field especially in the opening half.
It was Na Fianna who troubled the score board first pointing the 8th minute, before John Donoghue registered for Moynalvey in the 10th minute. Three minutes later Na Fianna took the lead again, this time from a free kick. A minute later the Enfield/Baconstown men furthered their advantage to four points when they raised the first green flag of the game. A trio of points from Moynalvey’s top marksman Mark O’Sullivan with a Na Fianna effort sandwiched in between left just two points between the sides after 22 minutes of play. However this was as close as Moynalvey got to their opponents as two minutes later Na Fianna scored their second goal of the game. Over the remainder of the opening period Na Fianna clocked up a further four points, with Moynalvey responding with points from an O’Sullivan free and John Donoghue to leave the half time score reading 2-7 to 0-6 at the interval.
Na Fianna started the second period as they had finished the first, posting three points within the first seven minutes of the half with O’Sullivan sending over a free for Moynalvey, leaving Na Fianna with a comfortable nine point lead after 37 minutes of play. Three points for Moynalvey from O’Sullivan, Ciaran Ennis and Anthony Forde left the two goals between the sides, 2-10 to 0-10, at the three quarter mark of the game. Ultimately the concession of the two sloppy first half goals remained the difference between the sides as Na Fianna added a further three points to their tally and Moynalvey a further two points before the final whistle. The seven point difference between the sides at half time remained between the sides at full time as Na Fianna claimed the Cummins Cup on a 2-13 to 0-12 score line.
Best for Moynalvey were Robbie Kiernan, Padraic Harnan and Mark O’Sullivan.
Moynalvey: O. Regan, R. Kiernan, P. Weldon, P. Donoghue, A. Forde (0-1), B. O’Keeffe, W. Mahady, D. Smith, S. Donoghue, P. Harnan, J. Donoghue (0-2), D. Brennan, M. O’Sullivan (0-8), K. Hyland, C. Ennis (0-1). Subs: J. Kelly for Brennan, W. Harnan for Hyland.
