Late, late comeback sees Molaise draw with Mary’s
HOSTS St Molaise Gaels were trailing St Mary’s by five points as eight minutes remained in this Fureys Coaches Division 1 but the Grange outfit dug deep to secure a draw in an intense finish. It was substitutes Daniel Keaney with a well-finished goal and Ben Roberts with the equalising point right at the end, which saw nothing between the sides at full-time.
The home support were in full voice when Roberts calmly slotted over the leveller, after Stephen Coen seemed to have secured the winner for Mary’s but the hosts were trying desperately for the equaliser and their fightback was rewarded in the dying moments.
Play was halted early in the second half after Molaise’s midfielder Paddy McGowan sustained a serious leg injury and had to be stretchered off in a lot of agony. He was having a good performance for the Grange side, who were behind by one point at the break in what was an evenly-matched opening 30 minutes.
The visitors began to exert their dominance in the second half, with the outstanding Kyle Cawley getting his second goal on 46 minutes, substitute Mark McGoldrick netted a third on 50 minutes and it looked as though Mary’s were going to win comfortably. They were ahead by six points at this stage but Molaise’s determination to claw back was starting to take hold.
The game was stopped numerous times due to players getting attention for injuries, McGowan’s was the most serious but less than a minute into the match, Mary’s midfielder Niall McManus had to leave the field of play hobbling off, as Mark McGoldrick was introduced to replace him.
Early exchanges saw both sides have a number of chances go wide, Mary’s were first to point through Mark Breheny from a free on eight minutes.
The Mary’s lead was added to when impressive build-up play involving a neat one-two with Cawley and Coen, saw Cawley fire to the back of the net. Molaise were looking to get their scoring off to a start and it was Alan McLaughlin who duly obliged, scoring two well-taken frees and a fine point from play as Molaise were behind by a point on 21 minutes. An excellent score from the boot of John Gilsenan brought the sides level on 23 minutes and this was followed by another from McLaughlin to edge them into the lead for the first time, Darragh Elliott and Diarmuid Gallagher involved in the lead-up. Molaise then had to clear off the line as Coen linked up with Nathan Rooney who was bounding down on goal but the hosts managed to clear on the line. Molaise midfielder Paddy McGowan went on a storming solo run and sent over a brilliant point as they led by two points on 27 minutes. It was Mary’s who dominated the final few minutes of the opening half, with three unanswered points, two from Coen, and another from Breheny as they ahead by one at the break, 1-4 to Molaise’s six points.
Not long after the resumption and the game was level once again, this time it was Gallagher on target.
Then, play was halted for sometime as Molaise’s midfielder Paddy McGowan was in severe agony after sustaining what appeared a serious leg injury and he had to be stretchered off. McLaughlin was again accurate through a free on 40 minutes to put the Grange side in front again, but it was short-lived with the lively Cawley equalising from play for Mary’s two minutes later.
It was Cawley who was on target again on 44 minutes as they went in front, while once again down the other end, Molaise equalised through James Brennan with a free but another from Coen was followed by Cawley’s second goal, putting them four in front on 46 minutes. Lee Porter scored a point for Molaise before Mary’s third goal arrived through McGoldrick and it looked like the visitors were cruising, leading by five with eight minutes to go.
Two Molaise frees saw just a goal separating the sides as the Molaise pressure was increasing. With time being added on for the McGowan injury, a McLaughlin free was followed by Keaney’s well-taken goal as the sides were level again.
A Breheny free was cancelled out by McLaughlin and then Coen looked to have scored the winner for Mary’s before tempers flared, Coen was dismissed as was Alan Carway for striking Brian Smith as the tension increased.
Up stepped substitute Roberts who finished the last kick of the game with an equalising point.
ST MOLAISE GAELS: D Gilsenan, C Clancy, J Kelly, A Carway, J Brennan, D Fallon, D Keaney, C Burns, P McGowan, A McLaughlin, D Gilsenan, J Brennan, D Gallagher, J Gilsenan, D Elliot. Subs used: B Roberts, L Porter.
ST MARY’S: A Sheerin, K Coen, B McGarry, C Darcy, J Martyn, P Kilcoyne, G O’Kelly-Lynch, B Smith, N McManus, D Kilgallon, M Breheny, C Kelly, N Rooney, S Coen, K Cawley.
Subs used: M McGoldrick, C O’Grady, S Mulligan.