Corking battle between Moffett brothers ends with Josh out in front
IT is a familiar picture — a Moffett at the top of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship. Only this time it is different, Josh instead of his brother Sam.
They finished in line astern in their matching R5 Ford Fiestas in second and third positions on the West Cork International at the weekend but, with winner Donagh Kelly’s WRC Ford Focus not eligible for championship points, it is the Moffetts who top the table after the first round.
Elder brother Sam was the champion last year in a season when he also won the Irish National and Forestry titles but says he will be happy if Josh can succeed him while he looks further afield to events like the Ypres Rally in Belgium.
However, he didn’t make it easy for Josh, finishing just nine seconds behind after two tough days on the road in conditions which varied from sunshine to snow. They were well clear of the third points scorer Robert Barrable, who snatched fifth place after a fierce duel with Desi Henry, the top Ulster finisher.
Henry, making his first championship start in an R5 Fiesta, had held off the experienced Barrable until the penultimate stage on Sunday afternoon when he caught standing water on the inside of a corner and spun, dropping 25 seconds.
Henry described it as a “bitter sweet” weekend — sweet because he was happy with his transition from Skoda to Ford but disappointed at letting valuable points slip away.
The same stage also caught out fellow Ulsterman Jonny Greer, who dropped from seventh to 10th when his Fiesta clipped a rock and punctured a tyre.
Eugene Donnelly brought his new Hyundai i20 home in ninth — the only non-Ford in the top 10 — and the former five-times Tarmac champion said it had been a good development exercise for him and the team, learning about the car and the Indian MRF tyres.
Behind Greer in 11th, another Ulster driver, Callum Devine, won the two-wheel-drive category by a clear two minutes in his little R2 Fiesta as he prepared for the next round of the JJWRC series in Corsica and William Mavitty took the production class in 12th in his Mitsubishi. ST RONAN’S: L Mulholland; E McCluskey, A Mulholland, J Haddock; A McCreanor, J Lamont, J Haughey; J Lenehan, T Kelly; O Smyth, A Loughran, R Meehan; R McConville, L Monteioro, E McConville
Subs: J Megoran for R McConville (39m), M McAfee for Monteioro (51m)
ST MARY’S: O Lynch; C Doyle, G Lupari, L Óg McElhone; J Crawford, S McErlain, C Devlin; J McErlain, J McCann; A Connolly, T McAteer, R Keenan; L Quinn, C Murphy, D Bradley.
Subs: A McCluskey for R Kennan (49m), D McAteer for J McCann (53m), C O’Neill for D Bradley (56m), R Hughes for Connolly (59m)
Referee: Paul Faloon (Down) Attendance: 5,700
THE MacRory Cup will spend the next year in unfamiliar surroundings once again after St Ronan’s of Lurgan won the trophy for the first time against St Mary’s of Magherafelt — themselves first-time champions a year ago.
St Ronan’s, an amalgamation of St Michael’s, St Paul’s and St Mary’s, are only in their third year of operation across two different sites with the third site earmarked as the location of the new school.
Under their management team of Davy Wilson, Mickey Donnelly and Colm Fegan, they have established a footballing identity for the school and will look to go further tomorrow week when they meet the legendary Pobailscoil Chorca Dhuibhne, Munster champions, who are under the guidance of Kerry manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice in the Hogan Cup semi-final.
That’s all getting ahead of themselves, however, and they will enjoy this win for a while yet. It was a decision by school principal Michéle Corkey to designate Monday as a school day, leading to the exodus from Lurgan to Armagh as buses teemed with youngsters heading to the Athletic Grounds.
Wilson bubbled afterwards: “It is fantastic for the school, we are so young from the amalgamation and I suppose what we tried to do this year was to ensure that these boys set the bar high for the students that are coming after.
“I am delighted and it has demonstrated that others can do it down the line because we have some good young talent in the school.”
Therefore, today is a day off. Smart thinking.
And it was smart thinking by the St Ronan’s management that captured this maiden triumph. As underdogs going in, they received a bit of luck when St Mary’s midfielder Tiarnach Donaghy hurt his hamstring in a routine training drill last week, which meant the Lissan man could play no part in the final, robbing them of a wrecking-ball, line-breaking midfielder, much valued against a defence like St Ronan’s which sometimes employed a second sweeper.
After 40 seconds, they got the perfect start. Eoin McConville bundled his way through for a sight of goal, but was felled by a foot block, with referee Paul Faloon immediately awarding a penalty. Oisin Smyth, a talent in soccer with Dungannon Swifts, rolled it home for a goal before stretching the lead to four.
Inspired in no small measure by the forceful tackling and sallies upfield by wing-halfback Conall Devlin, St Mary’s came more into things with points from Devlin himself and Liam Quinn, before Devlin was upended in the penalty area for the second penalty of the day on 24 minutes. Daniel Bradley produced an exact replica of Smyth’s finish, and the holders went in at the break up by a point at 1-4 to 1-3.
The second half belonged to St Ronan’s flame-haired Rioghan Meehan. Quiet in the first half, he took the ball off the shoulder in the first move of the second and kicked a point into the teeth of the not insubstantial wind.
A scoring lull of 10 minutes was broken when Tiernan Kelly was fouled to present McCon-