Sluggish Curraha are sunk by Syddan
4-12 0-16 AFTER a long season in 2017, Intermediate football champions Curraha made a slow start to their league campaign when finishing second best at a wind-swept Syddan last Sunday morning.
The home side were much the sharper of the two teams and they created and executed some excellent scores, including a brace of goals in each half.
Curraha, who conceded home advantage due to an unplayable pitch, were without James McEntee and Neil Shortall and relied too heavily on full forward Conor Moriarty for scores. Moriarty finished with a tally of 12 points, half of which came from open play.
The visitors reduced a seven-point second-half deficit to just three, but Syddan closed out the game with their fourth goal, from Daire Rowe, before Mark Fedigan fired over his third point.
Syddan laid the foundations for victory throughout the opening half and at the break led 2-5 to 0-8, despite playing into a biting wind. With Moriarty in excellent form Curraha led 0-6 to 0-1 following a David Toner point on 14 minutes.
However, Syddan came to life after that and Cormac Rowe struck for his side’s opening goal following a move that spanned the length of the pitch.
Daire Rowe’s fourth converted free had Syddan ahead for the first time approaching half-time and they finish the half on a high, with a second goal, this time Stuart Fedigan blasting to the net.
Syddan increased the lead on the restart with points from Gary Farrelly, Padraic Dillon and Mark Fedigan, but the accuracy of Moriarty kept Curraha in touch and his fourth score of the half left it 2-10 to 0-12 on 47 minutes.
When Daire Rowe struck for his side’s third goal it should have ended Curraha hopes, but instead the visitors hit back with the next four scores to make it an interesting finish. However it was Syddan who finished in style.
SYDDAN: Ciaran Farrelly; Kevin Garland, Ronan Mooney, Mark Fedigan 0-3; Stuart Fedigan 1-0, Andrew Garland, Kevin Traynor; Sean Clare, Cormac Rowe 1-0; Michael Fedigan 0-1, Daire Rowe 2-6 (4f), Graham Garland; Ryan Summersby, Gary Farrelly 0-1, Padraic Dillon 0-1. Subs: Cathal Dardis for G Farrelly (42), Peter Sheehy for Summersby (51), Ben Bashford for K Garland (58).
CURRAHA: Luke McCarthy; Andrew Moriarty, Conor Joyce, Seamus Hogan; Sean O’Hanrahan, Niall Murphy, Mark Phelan; Brian Joyce, Brian Murphy; Andrew Battersby, Phelim Dowling, Gavin Coyle 0-2; David Toner 01f, Conor Moriarty 0-12 (6fs), Pauraic Hanrahan. Subs: Mark Jackson for Dowling (BC 28), David Coyle 0-1 for Phelan (38), Sean Keogh for P O’Hanrahan (38).
REF: Liam Reddy (Duleek-Bellewstown)
RATHKENNY NOBBER
4-7 0-8