Moynalvey picked up their first win of the 2020 Fairyhouse Steel Meath SFC with a five point win over Curraha in Skryne on Saturday evening August 15th.
Moynalvey 5-10
Curraha 4-8
Moynalvey completed a fourteen point turnaround to win by five points having been nine down at half time in this SFC Group A Round 2 encounter.
Having looked dead and buried at half time, a combination of team spirit, hard work, well taken goals and the fact Curraha played most of the 2nd half with 14 men following the dismissal of David Coyle to a red card in the 38th minute saw a second half revival from the men in maroon to pick up the two points on offer.
Adam Murphy and David Toner traded early scores before the first of the game’s nine goals came in the 3rd minute with a brilliantly executed effort from Cillian O’Sullivan.
Points from David Toner and Diarmuid Moriarty left a point between the sides before Diarmuid Moriarty pounced for the first of his three goals giving Curraha the lead for the first time in the 9th minute, 1-3 to 1-1.
Points from Jack O’Connor and Moriarty were followed by a second Moriarty goal in the 19th minute leaving it 2-5 to 1-1.
Three frees, two from the O’Sullivan brothers Mark and Cillian and one in reply from Jack O’Connor were followed by a goal from O’Connor to leave nine between the sides at half time, 3-6 to 1-3.
A point and a brilliantly finished goal from Mark O’Sullivan within four minutes of the restart had the deficit down to five points before Curraha were reduced to fourteen with the dismissal of full forward David Coyle.
Adam Murphy and Jack O’Connor traded scores before 1-3 from Moynalvey, a Fearghal McCabe point and 1-2 from the lively Cillian O’Sullivan saw the lead swap to Moynalvey, 3-8 to 3-7 with 52 minutes played.
There were still plenty of twists and turns in the final 13 minutes or so, with the lead changing hands a few times, not good for the hearts of supporters of either team.
Conor O’Farrell goaled for the ‘Ha in the 44th minute followed by points from Moynalvey’s Mark O’Sullivan and Curraha’s Diarmuid Moriarty to leave it 4-8 to 3-9 in favour of Curraha with 57 minutes played.
The supporters and those watching on the Ideal Bathroons and Tiles sponsored Meath GAA TV stream surely thought Curraha had taken the win at this stage, but still time for more drama….
A point attempt from Cillian O’Sullivan dropped short to find its way into the hands of Adam Murphy who was left with the simple task of rounding Liam Hogan and finishing to the Curraha net, leaving it 4-9 to 4-8 to Moynalvey a minute into additional time.
A Cillian O’Sullivan point put Moynalvey two up in the 4th minute of added time, before Ciaran Harnan making his first start Senior Championship start brilliantly intercepted a Curraha attempted pass and raced forward to finish to the Curraha net to put the icing on the cake.
Moynalvey also finished with fourteen men with the dismissal of Robert Lawless deep into injury time for a second yellow card. The score board read 5-10 to 4-8 at the full-time whistle to complete a remarkable turnaround.
Best for the winners were David Reilly, Darren Brennan, Ciaran Harnan, Cillian O’Sullivan and captain Mark O’Sullivan.
Moynalvey:
Ray Ryan, Fearghal McCabe (0-1), Robert Lawless, Cathal McCabe, Ciaran Harnan (1-0), Darren Brennan, David Reilly, Brian Harnan, Donal Smith, Stephen Donoghue, Mark O’Sullivan (1-3, 2f), Shane Lenehan, Adam Murphy (1-2), Cillian O’Sullivan (2-4, 3f) David McLoughlin.
Subs used: Brian O’Reilly for S. Donoghue, James Weldon for Lenehan, D. Donoghue for Smith.
