A dominant second half showing from Moynalvey saw them almost stage what would have been an incredible comeback against St. Peter’s Dunboyne in this A League Round 9 game played at Dunboyne on Wednesday evening 10th May.
St. Peter’s Dunboyne 1-20 Moynalvey 2-14
As the cliché goes, this definitely was a game of two halves. St. Peter’s dominated the opening half, while it was Moynalvey’s turn to dominate in the second.
Having been 11 points down early in the second half, Moynalvey came up just short of staging an incredible comeback against a strong St. Peter’s Dunboyne outfit on Wednesday evening. Having been completely outplayed in the opening half Moynalvey found themselves eight points down at the break and a further three adrift within six minutes of the restart, with the home side looking on course for a comfortable win. But whatever Darren Fay had said to his men at half time, they re-emerged a different side in the second half and had the deficit down to the minimum with 59 minutes on the clock.
One of the Championship favourites St. Peter’s Dunboyne definitely showed championship form within the opening 30 minutes, just seven days before they open their championship campaign against Dunshaughlin, playing free flowing attacking football while racking up an impressive first have score of 1-11.
Things looked bleak for Moynalvey right from the off, as within 21 seconds of the throw in Dunboyne had pointed and had raised a green flag on the minute mark. County player Donal Lenihan opened his account with a free in the third minute, before fellow county player Cillian O’Sullivan opened Moynalvey’s account in the 4th minute when finding the net for his side’s opening score, leaving it 1-2 to 1-0 after a frantic start.
Dunboyne outscored Moynalvey 0-7 to 0-2 in the following ten minutes, leaving the score 1-9 to 1-2 on the quarter hour mark, with Moynalvey’s brace of points coming from John Donoghue & David McLoughlin. St. Peter’s went on to outscore Moynalvey 0-5 to 0-4 in the second quarter to leave it 1-14 to 1-6 at half time, with Moynalvey’s remaining first half scores coming from Cillian O’Sullivan (3) and David McLoughlin.
Within six minutes of the restart Moynalvey would have wished it was nearer six minutes to the full time whistle, as St. Peter’s came out and hit the opening three scores and leave Moynalvey facing a monsterous eleven point deficit. However, Moynalvey’s second half dominance then saw them outscore the home side 1-8 to 0-1 between the 36th and 62nd minutes. David McLoughlin kick started the revival with a point in the 38th minute, with Shane Lenehan palming to the net two minutes later following a Dan Treacy goal attempt saved by the Dunboyne ‘keeper. Further points from McLoughlin (4), O’Sullivan (2) and Fearghal McCabe saw Moynalvey narrow the deficit to a single point, with a minute of normal time remaining. Moynalvey ‘keeper Ray Ryan pulled off an incredible save within this period to deny Dunboyne a second goal.
When Moynalvey had narrowed the margin to the minimum, they were unlucky not to find a leveller as a series of wides and a couple of goal opportunities, with a snapshot from McLoughlin blasting off the crossbar and another of his efforts blocked by a defender. In the closing stages St. Peter’s Dunboyne were also guilty of some wayward shooting when trying to negate/stem the Moynalvey flow. Just as Moynalvey could not find a leveller, it was inevitable Dunboyne were going to score at some stage, having clocked up 1-11 in the opening half. They did just that in the 62nd minute when their wing back surged forward to point, while in the 64th minute the experienced David Gallagher spilt the uprights for the insurance score.
In what may have been a game of two separately dominated halves, both sides will be glad of a tough competitive game of football with the first round of the championship beckoning.
Moynalvey’s best performers were Ray Ryan, Conor Harnan, Eamon Walsh, Dan Treacy and David McLoughlin.
Moynalvey: Ray Ryan, Conor Harnan, Robert Lawless, Brian O’Reilly, Eamon Walsh, Darren Brennan, Shane Lenehan (1-0), John Donoghue (0-1), Donal Smith, Adam Murphy, Daniel Treacy, Padraic Harnan, David McLoughlin (0-7, 3f), Fearghal McCabe (0-1), Cillian O’Sullivan (1-5, 3f).
Subs used: Darragh Branigan for Lawless, Scott Tuite for Lenehan.
