St Mochta’s advance as red mist falls on St Fechin’s
ST MOCHTA’S 2-9 ST FECHIN’S 1-9
ST MOCHTAS booked their place in the Intermediate Championship quarter-final against Mattock Rangers when they came out on top against St Fechins at Stabannon on Saturday evening.
Although there were just three points between the teams at the end it was a more comfortable victory than the scoreline suggests as the Louth Village men had this game all but wrapped up just after the start of the final quarter.
When Stephen McCooey cut in from the right to plant the ball in the bottom corner for his second goal of the game, the Mochtas had a commanding 2-8 to 0-4 lead. On top of that, they were also facing a Fechins side with just 13 men after both Bevan Duffy and goalkeeper, Paul King were sent off, while Eoghan Duffy was given a black card, all inside four second half minutes.
Although the Mochtas certainly took their foot off the pedal, the Fechins showed commendable spirit in the closing stages to fight back to within six points before sub Ronan Holcroft fired in a goal direct from a 13m free. However, time ran out before they had a chance to force an equalising goal and the Louth Village men held out for a deserved win.
Without doubt many Fechins supporters left Stabannon wondering if their side had shown the same character and hunger in the early stages of the game would they be preparing for a quarter-final rather than a relegation play-off.
Unfortunately for the Termonfeckin men they left it too late against a St Mochtas side who turned in a much improved display from their disappointing showing against Hunterstown the previous weekend.
Playing with a greater hunger and cohesion they always appeared to have the edge over a Fechins team that struggled to cope without Holcroft as the focal point of their attack from the start. In contrast, the Mochtas had Declan Byrne as a threat on the edge of the square, with Stephen McCooey causing continuous problems for the Fechins defence.
Byrne was in fine kicking form in the early stages as he landed four in reply to two pointed frees from Joe Corrigan to see his side lead 0-4 to 0-2 on 22 minutes. The Mochtas strengthened their grip on the game when McCooey cut through the defence to score the first goal of the game and help his side lead by 1-5 to 0-2 at the break.
When Colm O’Neill and Jamie King fisted points within five minutes of the restart it looked very much game on once again. However, within ten minutes the game had changed completely.
Two quick-fire points from Byrne were followed by Duffy’s red card on 39 minutes after a clash with Darren McMahon. Two minutes later Eoghan Duffy picked up a black card and while he was making his way to the sideline, Paul King received his marching orders from referee Kevin Carroll following consultation with the linesman.
McCooey’s goal arrived on 47 minutes to effectively end the game as a contest and although the Fechins fought back well, it always appeared that they would come up short.
ST MOCHTAS: Fergus Englishby; Donal Gernon, Liam Lawlor, David Lennon; Gareth O’Reilly; Andrew English, Barry Mulholland; Darren McMahon, Shane McMahon; Stephen McCooey 2-0, Philip Englishby 0-1, Nigel Farrell; Liam McGranaghan, Declan Byrne 0-7 (3f), Eamon O’Neill. Subs: Gavin Breen 0-1 for N Farrell, Gerry Garland for L McGranaghan.
ST FECHINS: Paul King; Niall Carolan, David Collier, Niall McCabe; Eoin Duffy, Ryan Sheridan, Colm O’Neill 0-1; Brendan Fanning, Dermot McConnell; Niall Devlin 0-2, Bevan Duffy, Jamie King 0-1; Danny Burnell, Brian Devlin, Joe Corrigan 0-4 (4f). Subs: Ronan Holcroft 1-1 for D Burnell, Donal Ryan for B Fanning, Harry McArdle for E Duffy BC, Karl McDonnell for N Carolan.
REFEREE: Kevin Carroll