Titanic struggle in the heat Roinn A Semi-final
13/6/2014
Hugginstown
St. Canices 1-11. Mooncoin 3-5
We battled with Mooncoin today in Hugginstown in the Roinn A semi final, and when John Direen blew the final whistle, the sides had finished level.
This was a cracking contest from the start. It was an unbelievably warm evening, and the water boys were busy from the start.
Mooncoin got off to the ideal start when they goaled in their first attack/ some careless defence on our side! They added the next point too before we got going. Aaron Murphy first, and then two beautiful points from Cillian Hackett steadied our ship, and we were just one down. However, more slack defending and an even more generous goal put Mooncoin 4 up again.
To our credit, we finished the half strongly, and two superb David Conway strikes along with two well taken frees from Liam Moore meant a level half time score 0-7 to 2-1.
We faced the slight breeze in the second half, but we were confident. Patrick O Shea struck a great point, and a third Cillian point put us two up. But Mooncoin were very stubborn opponents, and each and every one of them fought tigerishly for each possession. They were rewarded for their tenacity when they scored a fantastic goal on the 9th minute of the new half. This gave them new heart, and they added the next two points also, one from a free. Now we're back to three down, and in trouble.
When you're in trouble, you need your strong players to stand up, and you need a bit of luck! Luckily for us, we had both. Liam Moore fought brilliantly for the last 15, and it was his long free from midfield that found its way to the net that levelled the match again. Rory O Connor's presence near the goal line definitely played a big part in that goal, and also he won two vital frees during the match.
The final minutes were hectic-chats with the referee, chats with the opponent's manager, a Liam Moore pointed free to go one up, a Mooncoin free to equalise,Sean Maher and Eoghan Dalton introduced to help, last line defending on both sides, another superb Liam Moore free to retake the lead, the game entering injury time, and the awarding of a close in free to Mooncoin to snatch a draw at the game's death.
After some consultation with the Mooncoin manager, and a couple of phone calls, and input from the referee, it was agreed to replay at same venue next Monday.
It will take a massive effort from all to book a date in the final against Gaelscoil.
R Lavelle
C Rowe D Delahunty L Morrissey
D Walsh P Moylan N Rowe
PO Shea(0-1) L Moore(1-4,4f)
T Clifford D Conway(0-2)J Carroll
C Hackett(0-3) A Murphy (0-1)R O Connor
S Maher E Dalton I O Keeffe K Fitzpatrick J Delaney D Kelleher S McEvoy Z McHardy E O Reilly G Byrne ADorney M. Clifford T Carroll N Doheny B Manogue P Fitzgerald S Dermody E O Neill