Relieved Rangers scrape into semis
THE
Mattock R 3-6
St Mochta’s 0-14
MATTOCK Rangers survived a real scare before booking their place in the Intermediate Championship final against St Josephs thanks to a one-point victory over St Mochtas on Friday night.
The Collon side proved the old adage that goals win games as they hit the net three times in the opening 12 minutes to build up what proved to be a decisive lead.
Few would have thought at that stage that Mattock would be left hanging on at the end but that’s what happened as the Mochtas produced a stirring comeback. However, in the end they fell just short, thanks mainly to the accuracy of David Reid who kicked all five of his side’s second half scores.
The Louth Village men will no doubt be bitterly disappointed with their failure to complete the revival and were left seething at the final whistle following some controversial decisions by referee, Anthony Briscoe.
Three of the Mattock points in the second half came from very debatable frees, while the referee then added to the Mochtas frustrations in injury-time by stopping play while the Louth Village men were attacking after one of their own players went down with cramp.
The Mochtas did have possession of the ball from the restart but couldn’t score direct from the kick and were unable to conjure up the equaliser as Mattock held out for a victory that keeps them on course for an immediate return to the senior ranks.
Such a dramatic conclusion was unimaginable from the early stages as the Collon men began in whirlwind fashion. Having won the ball from the throw-in they cut through the middle of the Mochtas defence and Ryan Leneghan got on the end of a fine move hit the net with just seconds on the clock.
Despite playing with the advantage of the wind, a shellshocked Mochtas suffered another setback on ten minutes when Conor Ryan failed to deal with a weak shot from Shane Grimes and Robbie Brennan poked home a second goal.
Declan Byrne and Eamon O’Neill replied on each occasion but they were unable to get a foothold in the game as a brilliant bit of intricate passing between David and Adrian Reid saw the latter fist home a third goal.
When the same player added a point there looked to be no way back for the Mochtas as Mattock held a 3-1 to 0-2 lead.
However, the Mochtas showed great resilience to claw their way back into the game and with Byrne (4) and O’Neill on target they had reduced the gap to 3-1 to 0-7 at the break.
The Louth Village men laid siege to the Mattock goal in the early stages of the second half as they cut the gap to two points thanks to efforts from Nigel Farrell and Ultan Larney.
With Mattock on the ropes at that stage, it was left to David Reid, not for the first time, to provide the inspiration and his five points ensured his team kept their noses in front.
His final point with two minutes remaining increased the gap to three and although scores from Gareth O’Reilly and Byrne set up a grandstand finish, the Mochtas were unable to produce an equaliser that would have been the least their efforts deserved. MATTOCK RANGERS: Mike Englishby; James Caraher, Cathal Clarke, Sean Gilsenan; David Brennan, Daire Englishby, Aaron O’Brien; Ciaran Calvey, Ryan Leneghan 1-0, Christy Grimes, Terry Donegan, Adrian Reid 1-1; Shane Grimes, Robbie Brennan 1-0, David Reid 0-5. Subs: Conor Leneghan for R Brennan, Daniel Bannon for C Calvey, Jason McKeown for S Grimes, Niall Sharkey for C Clarke.
ST MOCHTAS: Conor Ryan; Barry Murphy, Liam Lawlor, Donal Gernon; Gareth O’Reilly 0-1, Darren McMahon, Barry Mulholland; Shane McMahon, Eamon O’Neill 0-3; Ultan Larney 0-1, Declan Byrne 0-8, Danny Kindlon; Stephen McCooey, Nigel Farrell 0-1, Gavin Breen. Subs: David Lennon for B Murphy, Emlyn Clerkin for G Breen, Cormac Callan for D Gernon, Martin McGahon for N Farrell.
REFEREE: Anthony Briscoe.