Super Mac central to victory
TWO Andrew Mackin goals in the space of a minute in the first half set up Naomh Moninne for this opening-round league victory over neighbours Pearse Og at Kilkerley last Thursday.
However, after trailing by 13 points early in the second half, Pearse Og staged an impressive comeback and in the end Moninne were relieved to hear the referee’s final whistle.
The sides exchanged the opening two points of the match before Tadhg Moore grabbed a good point for the black and amber outfit on five minutes. Full forward Mackin then took full advantage of two errors by Pearse Og keeper Barry Myles to find the back of the net twice in quick succession.
A third Moninne goal, scored by David Yore, followed on 25 minutes and after Brian McCabe and Andrew McCrave had responded with a brace of points for Pearse Og, their opponents struck for a fourth goal from the stick of Ronan Geoghegan.
That left the scoreboard reading 4-5 to 0-5 at the break, and Moninne extended their lead when midfielder Darren O’Hanrahan struck over a free early in the second half.
Pearse Og replied with 1-3 without reply, with their goal being scored by Padraig McCarthy, and four further points after another O’Hanrahan score had them trailing by just 4-7 to 1-12.
Two welcome points from John Martin and Ronan Geoghegan saw Moninne now leading by six with less than 10 minutes remaining, but Pearse Og dominated the closing minutes and were rewarded with further good points from substitute Mike Lyons, Gerard Smyth (free) and McCrave to leave Moninne sweating over the outcome.
NAOMH MONINNE: James Connolly; Niall Cafferkey, Chris Lennon, James Murphy; Andrew McArdle, Oisin Drumm, Diarmuid Murphy; Darren O Hanrahan 0-2, Paul Delaney; Donal Connolly, John Martin 0-1, Tadhg Moore 0-2; David Yore 1-2, Andrew Mackin 2-1, Ronan Geoghegan 1-1. Subs: Collins Connolly for D Connolly, Mark McGuinness for J Murphy, Donal Griffin for A McArdle, Tommy McArdle for P Delaney. PEARSE OG: Barry Myles; Mark Egan, Brian Minogue, Cian Sholloe; Aidan Callan, Padraig McCarthy 1-0, Noel Callan; Gerard Smyth 0-5, Andrew McCrave 0-2; Gary O Brien 0-1, Brian McCabe 0-2, Paul Grimes 0-1; Davy Mahony 0-2, Pat McCauley, Dean Walsh. Subs: Andrew McDermott, Mike Lyons 0-2, Shane Kelleher, David Mulholland. REFEREE: Noel Mullaney (Monaghan) • In the other Senior Hurling League match played on Thursday evening, Knockbridge recorded a comfortable 2-19 to 0-7 over Mattock Rangers at Pairc an Chuinnigh.