Hard Earned win in Aylward Cup tie

This Aylward Cup tie between St. Martin’s and Mooncoin turned out to be a game of two halves.  In the first half, St. Martin’s found it hard to get scores.  The hard working Noel D’arcy found Mick Morrissey to get the opening score with Luke Maher, pointing from a nice ball let in by Paddy Nolan and a long range clearance from Bryan Byrne resulted in a free which John Mulhall  pointed to keep the scoreboard ticking over.  The half time score stood at St. Martin’s 0-3 to Mooncoin’s 0-6.  The second half saw a much improved St. Martin’s.  John Mulhall and Brian Mulhall added points to reduce the deficit to one point before Mooncoin added a point of their own. Robert Shore got the first of his two fine points to leave a point in it again.  The lads worked hard and when they weren’t taking their own scores, they were making scores for each other.  The leveller came from Luke Maher 6 minutes into the half.  While Mooncoin went up again, a well taken free from John Mulhall mid way through the half  levelled again.  Mooncoin took over the lead once more but David Breen, taking a clearance from Niall Moran, levelled matters and St. Martin’s powered on with some well-worked scores.  With the score at 0-13 to 0-10, Mooncoin prised an opening in the St. Martin’s defence and looked certain to goal but a brave save from the fast advancing Colin McGrath denied them.  Less than 30 seconds later, they threatened again and a brave stop this time from Brendan Maher relieved the danger and as the ball was swept clear, James Dowling found Brian Mulhall  and he landed the insurance point to leave the full time score at St. Martin’s 0-14 to Mooncoin’s 0-10.  The defence were generally solid, in particular, the full back line of Aidan Murphy, Brendan Maher and Paddy Dowling, while our mid-fielders dominated and with the forwards finding the target when it mattered.

Team: Colin McGrath, Aidan Murphy, Brendan Maher, Paddy Dowling, Niall Moran, Bryan Byrne 0-1, Paddy Nolan, James Dowling, Mick Morrissey 0-1, John Mulhall 0-4, Noel D’arcy, Brian Mulhall 0-2, David Breen 0-2, Robert Shore 0-2, Luke Maher 0-2.

Subs: Thomas Walsh, Brian Cadigan, Jack Dowling.

Team Management: Charlie Carter, Aidan Lawlor, Richie McCarthy

Referee: Eamon Larkin

25th June 2013