Early second half goals decisive as Moyne capture U-16 title

16.04.10 | By Padraic O'Brien

It took Moyne CS quite some time to assert their superiority over Cnoc Mhuire, Granard in the County Post-Primary Schools U-16 Football Final at the scenic Sean Connolly's grounds on Friday last but a couple of goals in the early stages of the second half proved decisive.

Moyne pulled away to win by the wide margin of eleven points in the finish and from the moment Paudge Gill got the vital touch to finish the ball to the net with five minutes gone on the changeover the writing was on the wall for Cnoc Mhuire who held a slender 0-5 to 0-3 lead at the break.

A brace of points quickly followed from prominent Moyne midfielder Niall Woods and wing forward Conor Devlin and Moyne struck the killer blow when their chief marksman Gary Maguire scored the second goal in the 39th minute.

Six more points were registered by the emphatic winners during the remainder of the game, four from the impressive corner-forward Maguire (two frees) while John Hyland (free) and Paudge Gill were also on target.

Cnoc Mhuire almost went the entire second half without registering a score but Shane Sheridan fired over a late consolation point with virtually the last kick of the game and whatever hopes they had of staging a comeback were dashed when Nigel Rabbitte was denied a goal after his shot hit the post in the 48th minute.

Moyne were guilty of kicking a few wides in a very scrappy first half and while they made the better start with early points from Gary Maguire (free) and Niall Woods, Cnoc Mhuire levelled matters with scores from Conor Madden (free) and Stephen Harton.

Jonathan McCabe then shot over the bar in the 14th minute to put Moyne back in front but they failed to register another score for the rest of the first half. Cnoc Mhuire notched three more points through Harton (free), substitute Nigel Rabbitte and Ciaran Mallon but their title challenge faded dramatically in the second half.

However, the losers cause was certainly not helped when their full-forward Conor Madden was forced to retire injured in the 24th minute and they were completely outplayed on the changeover by a stronger Moyne side who got their scoring act together in adding a total of 2-8 to their tally.

MOYNE CS: Sean McNerney; Ray O'Brien, Keith Masterson, Brian Collum; Shane Clarke, Martin Mulligan, Emmet Noonan; Niall Woods (0-2), Mark Prunty; Conor Devlin (0-1), Jonathan McCabe (0-1), John Hyland (0-1, free); Gary Maguire (1-5, three points from frees), Peter Mimnagh, Paudge Gill (1-1).

Subs:- Seamus McKeon for P Mimnagh (half-time); Mark Mulligan for K Masterson (injured, 57 mins); David Brady for C Devlin (60 mins).

CNOC MHUIRE: Christopher Dalton; Declan Murphy, Stephen Gorman, Daniel Reilly; David McGivney, Dermot Reilly, Noel O'Reilly; Shane McKeon, Michael Cullen; Ciaran Mallon (0-1), Liam Sullivan, Shane Sheridan (0-1); Aodan McFarlane, Conor Madden (0-1, free), Stephen Harten (0-2, one free).

Subs:- Nigel Rabbitte (0-1) for C Madden (injured, 24 mins); Padraic Devaney for D McGivney (38 mins); Padraig Kelly for S Sheridan (41 mins); S Sheridan for S Harten (59 mins).

REFEREE: Tommy Donohoe (Rathcline).

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