Two from two for Mochta’s

ST Mochtas made it two wins from their opening two games in Division 2 after picking up maximum points from their trip to Roche Emmets.

In a game where the wind was a big factor, the Mochtas made their most of their advantage in the opening period with a goal from Gerry Garland proving decisive in the end as the hosts just fell short in their efforts to rescue something from the game.

The Louth Village men dominated possession in the first half and they took a grip of the game with the help of points from Declan Byrne who would finish with ten points to his name. Garland’s goal also came in that dominant spell as his side led by 1-8 to 0-3 at the break.

Barry O’Hare had scored all three Roche points in the opening half and he added to his tally after O’CONNELLS picked up their first points of the Division 2 campaign when they defeated Glyde Rangers at The Grove.

Dean Stanfield got the scoring underway for the home side from a free and Emmet Byrne doubled the lead with a point after seven minutes. A brace of frees from Robert Quigley had it 0-4 to 0-0 for the Bellingham team before Sean Cairns scored the only goal of the game.

Trevor O’Brien got the visitors’ first point and added a second not long after before Niall Sharkey was denied by a brilliant Stuart Reynolds save. Paul McKeever got the last point of the half to leave the score at the break 1-5 to 0-2.

Glyde were out of the blocks quicker at the start of the second half and got two points within a minute from O’Brien and Dion Conlon. Further the break as the hosts got back into contention. Kevin Callaghan, Conor Carthy and David Quigley also got in on the scoring act as Roche gave themselves hope of salvaging something from the game.

However, the Mochta’s kept the scoreboard ticking at the other end to ensure they came out on top by three points and continued their bright start to the campaign.

ST MOCHTAS: Fergus English; Liam Lawlor, Philip Englishby, David Lennon; Barry Mulholland, Darren McMahon, Cormac Callan; Gareth O’Reilly, Eamonn O’Neill 0-1; Stephen McCooey 0-1, Brendan Duff, Liam McGranaghan; Gerry Garland 1-1, Danny Kindlon, Declan Byrne 0-10.

ROCHE EMMETS: Sean O’Hare, Andrew Carroll, Liam Rice, Dermot Carthy; David O’Connell, Harry O’Connell, Shane Byrne; Dan O’Connell 0-1, David Quigley 0-1; Liam Dawe, Kevin Callaghan 0-4, Conor Carthy 0-1; Evin Quigley, Eugene Murray 0-1, Barry O’Hare 0-5. Subs: Cathal Byrne, Conor Mackin, James Tiffney, Bernard McConnon, Paddy Quigley, Conor Traynor, Paul Carroll, Brian Treanor, Kevin Quigley, Matt Grimes. points from Sharkey and Ciaran Sheridan had the gap down to 1-5 to 0-6.

O’Connells increased their lead with points from Byrne and McKeever and further points from Quigley and Conor Kiernan looked to have sealed their victory going into the last ten minutes.

Sharkey got his team’s last point of the game and Conor McGill got the home side’s last point to ensure the Bellingham team collected the points. O’CONNELLS: Stuart Reynolds; Keith Woods, Conor Byrne, Liam Kiernan; Salem Rifaie, Paul McKeever 0-2, Stefan O’Hanrahan; Conor Kiernan 0-1, Sean Cairns 1-0; Emmet Byrne 0-2, Dean Stanfield 0-1, Conor McGill 0-1; Robert Quigley 0-3, Sean Connolly, Jackie Agnew. Subs: Dean Corrigan for L Kiernan, Kyle Daniels for P McKeever, Micheal Cairns for S O’Hanrahan.

GLYDE RANGERS: David Brennan; Conor McCullough, Cein Sheridan, Gerard Farrell; Mark O’Brien, Paul Noone, Peter Duffy; Ciaran Sheridan 0-1, Brian Duffy; Aaron Devlin, Dion Conlon 0-1, Barry Brennan; Trevor O’Brien 0-3, Niall Sharkey 0-2, Fiachra Sheridan. Subs: Alan Brennan for M. O’Brien BC, Niall Bird for P Duffy, Barry Sharkey for A Devlin.