ACFL Division 1 League

Belturbet 3-8

Mullahoran 0-12

Pairc na gCead Ultach

Belturbet returned to winning ways when a strong second half performance saw them claim a five point win over Mullahoran in Round 4 of the ACFL Division 1 League in Ballyconnell on Saturday evening last.

Mullahoran opened the scoring in the first half with Fionnan O'Reilly converting a free after Enda O'Reilly was upended two minutes into the contest. Enda Henry and Sean Og Lawlor linked up in the third minute to find Brendan Fitzpatrick in space and he sold a trademark dummy before splitting the posts. The visitors moved back in front with a finely taken point from Shane Sheils a minute later.

Brendan Fitzpatrick was fouled with five minutes on the clock and  Niall O'Reilly swung over the close range free to level the match at 0-2 each.  Niall Lawlor moved the Rorys ahead for the first time in the eight minute, drilling over a point from an acute angle on the right hand wing, after good work from Mark Teevan and Sean Og Lawlor.

Derrick Dalton scored a fantastic point which went over via the aid of the upright in the ninth minute to draw the sides level for a third time. Enda O'Reilly fisted over for Mullahoran in the 11th minute  after great work from Matthew Hynes  who drove forward from his defensive position to play the full forward into space. Mullahoran were winning a lot of breaking ball in the middle sector of the pitch and after claiming more possession from a break they broke forward at pace with Fionnan O'Reilly on target from long range. Mark Teevan delivered an inch perfect pass into Brendan Fitzpatrick in the 19th minute and the full forward turned his marker before firing over a neat point to leave the hosts trailing by 0-5 to 0-4.Mullahoran were delivering quality fast ball into their forward line in the first half with and they added another two points onto their tally. Niall McGahern worked himself into space to drill over a point after good work from Fionnan O'Reilly with 22 minutes gone. Fionnan O'Reilly then swung over a terrific  point to ease the Dreadnoughts into a three point lead with five minutes of the first half remaining.

Belturbet worked a terrific move in the 29th minute when Mark Teevan played a sideline ball into John Cahill who laid an astute pass off to Enda Henry. Enda then played a pass into Eoin McGuigan who laid a pass off to Sean Og Lawlor in space and the corner forward made no mistake from close range, as he hammered a shot low into the bottom corner of Sean Briody's net, to tie the game up at 1-4 to 0-7.

Mullahoran restored their lead one minute into first half stoppage time, with Enda O'Reilly showing a turn of pace to work himself into a shooting position and duly obliging in raising  a white flag. This left the Dreadnoughts with a 0-8 to 1-4 half time advantage.

Raymond Lynch got Mullahoran off to a solid start to the second half thrashing over a point from distance two minutes into the second half. Mark Teevan reduced the gap to a one point game in the 40th minute, when he converted a free, after Kevin McConnell was fouled.

The pendulum of the match swung firmly in the Rorys favour in the 43rd minute, when Conor Dourneen who impressed with a fine display of officiating, awarded a penalty to Belturbet, for a Mullahoran infringement in the square. Brendan Fitzpatrick took the spot kick and he hammered the ball into the net via the underside of the crossbar to move Belturbet 2-5 to 0-9 ahead. Conal McGinley took on a pass from Enda Henry at full speed before curling superbly over with 45 minutes gone to extend the hosts lead to three points. Belturbet were turning the screw all over the pitch with their defence on top and their  key players Eoin McGuigan and Damien O'Reilly beginning to exert their influence on the game. Mark Teevan clipped over another 47th minute free to widen the gap to 2-7 to 0-9.

Enda O'Reilly stroked over a 49th minute free after Killian Brady was hauled to the ground and he repeated the trick in the 52nd minute to leave the game finely poised at 2-7 to 0-11.

Mark Teevan who had an excellent game for Belturbet split the posts for the third time with a free in the 55th minute.  Belturbet sealed the win in the 60th minute when Cian Vaughan started the move from his goalkeeping position. The ball was worked at lighting pace down the pitch and ended with senior debutant John Joe Collins providing a classy finish to the back of Briody's net placing his shot off the inside of the left hand post to leave it a six point game. Sean McKeogh landed an excellent point for Mullahoran in stoppage time to cut the arrears to five. Mullahoran's misery was compounded  when they were reduced to 14 men in injury time when Killian Brady was dismissed by Conor Dourneen on a second yellow card. Belturbet travel to Kingscourt this Friday evening whilst Mullahoran host Cootehill.

Belturbet: Cian Vaughan, Shane Fitzpatrick, Peter Shannon, Kevin McConnell, Conal McGinley(0-1), Damien O'Reilly, Luke Smith, Eoin McGuigan, Enda Henry, Niall Lawlor(0-1), Niall O'Reilly(0-1 1f), John Cahill, Sean Og Lawlor(1-0), Brendan Fitzpatrick(1-2 1 Pen), Mark Teevan(0-3  3f). Subs: John Joe Collins(1-0), Ryan McGovern.

Mullahoran: Sean Briody, James O'Reilly, Patrick Brady, Cian O'Reilly, Daniel O'Reilly, Matthew Hynes, Sean Cadden, Killian Brady, Kevin Fitzsimons, Derrick Dalton(0-1), Raymond Lynch(0-1), Niall McGahern(0-1), Shane Sheils(0-1), Enda OReilly(0-4 2f), Fionnan O'Reilly(0-3 1f). Subs: Barry McArdle, Liam Wilson, Sean McKeogh(0-1), Dara McArdle.

Referee: Conor Dourneen (Ballinagh).

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