Annacurra keep Eire Og at arm’s length
at Annacurra
They added three more points through Declan Loftus (2) and Brian Shannon before Luke Bradley got the seasiders on the board with a point after seven minutes.
Annacurra were dominant in these early stages and could, and maybe should, have raised a couple of green flags.
Stephen and Niall Murphy were dominant in the middle of the field and Patrick Moules and Declan Loftus were also prominent early on.
Ciaran McDonald closed the gap to two when he pointed after eleven minutes but a Stephen Murphy pointed free brought the margin back up to three points.
Éire Óg began to get a bit more parity at midfield from here on. They made good use of long, direct ball into the full-forward line of Eoin O’Neill, Don Salmon and Ciaran McDonald who began to cause problems for the Annacurra defence.
Centre forward Willie O’Hagan pointed from play and when Luke Bradley pointed a free coming up to 20 minutes it reduced the gap to the bare minimum between the sides.
However, Stephen Murphy responded with an Annacurra point. Eire Og lost Willie O’Hagan to a black card at this stage. He was replaced by Jason Chatenham.
The visitors were guilty of some wayward shooting, establishing a total of six wides before half time. Annacurra won a penalty award coming up to the break when a defender handled the ball on the floor in the small square.
Patrick Moules’ rising shot went over the bar and Luke Bradley concluded the scoring with a pointed free on the call of half time. The homesters led by 0-7 to 0-5.
Dan Byrne and Patrick Moules exchanged points in the early minutes of the second half.
When Ciaran McDonald pointed it brought Eire Og back to the minimum gap again.
They were pressing strongly and looking dangerous in attack. However, the outcome of the game was probably decided in a two minute period around the tenth minute.
Annacurra centre back Ciaran Byrne brought the ball forward into attack.
He found Max Molloy with a direct kick in. The full-forward turned and beat goalie Fran Chatenham with a ground shot just inside the post. Glen Austin followed immediately with a point and when Cian Moules fisted home a goal in their next attack Annacurra led by eight points.
However, Eire Og were not finished yet. Centre back Paul Doherty moved forward and scored a long-threatened goal after 17 minutes.
Glen Austin came back with a great point from the right sideline. Declan Loftus followed with another point.
There was still another kick left in the visiting side. Niall Deeney scored a great goal with six minutes left in the game.
Annacurra finished off with two further points from Ciaran Byrne and Patrick Moules to leave them comfortable six point winners at the end.
- Annacurra: Max Molloy1-0, Cian Moules 1-0, Stephen Murphy 0-3, Patrick Moules 0-3,
Scorers
Declan Loftus 0-3, Glen Austin 0-2, Brian Shannon 0-1, Ciaran Byrne 0-1.
Éire Óg: Luke Bradley 0-3, Ciaran McDonald 0-2, Paul Doherty 1-0, Niall Deeney 1-0, Willie O’Hagan 0-1, Dan Byrne 0-1.
David Whitty; Jack Keenan, Shane O’Neill, Mark Doyle; Brian Shannon, Ciaran Byrne, Glen Austin; Niall Murphy, Stephen Murphy; Declan Loftus, Patrick Moules, Jack Byrne; John O’Neill, Max Molloy, Cian Moules.
Fran Chathanham; Brian O’Sullivan, Dermot Blake, Nicky Casey; Garry Dunne, Paul Doherty, Sean Minogue; Luke Bradley, Niall Deeney; Dan Byrne, Willie O’Hagan, Kurt McGabhann; Eoin O’Neill, Daniel Salmon, Ciaran McDonald. Subs: Brian Gubbins, Jason Chatenham.
Brendan Furlong (Ti-
Annacurra: Éire Óg: Referee:
nahely)