Loughcrew 1-12 An Tuisceart 0-12

Loughcrew and An Tuaisceart met in Moynalty for Round 2 of the Meath Regional Football Championship and similar to the first day it was the Loughcrew men who pointed seconds after the throw in, Oldcastle duo Oran Mulvaney and Pearse Sheridan combining before Sheridan slotted over in the opening minute.

CJ Healy doubled Loughcrews advantage moments later with a score from a tight angle before An Tuisceart finally got scoring with two points in as many minutes Conor O’Farrell and Darragh Kelly converting their chances to level the sides.

Another CJ Healy point in the 15th minute edged Loughcrew back in front but it was short lived as a Rian McConnell free for An Tuaisceart leveled the sides once again.

The Northern North Meath men took the lead two minutes later when Nobber’s Niall Farrell landed a brilliant score, which was soon matched by an excellent point from Daire Shine in the 20th minute, that score coming directly off a Shane Gibney interception.

Daire Shine powered Loughcrew into the lead with two placed balls by the 24th minute, and they were to enhance their lead further when that man once again Shane Gibney intercepted perfectly on his own 20m line, and drove out of defense and into attack seamlessly before sending the ball forward to his club mate Sean Reilly who fired to the net from distance in the 29th minute to boost Loughcrew.

There was time for An Tuaisceart to lower the deficit just before half time when Rian McConnell pointed a free in the 31st minute.

So when Referee Gabriel Patterson, who didn’t seem to have to enforce too many of the new rules this evening, blew the half time whistle Loughcrew led on a scoreline of 1-06 to An Tuiscearts 0-05.

Loughcrew opened the scoring once again in the second half with Harry Ryan pointing in the 32nd minute before An Tuaisceart hit back with a Rian McConnell point two minutes later.

Points for CJ Healy, Harry Ryan and Sean Reilly had Loughcrew cruising by the 41st minute with a seven point lead, but credit to An Tuaisceart they battled back admirably and started their scoring with a point from Niall Farrell in the 42nd minute.

That score kick started the comeback with James McEntee, Jamie O’Neill and the influential Rian McConnell all pointing by the 53rd minute to lower the gap back to just three points.

Loughcrew just needed to get hands on the ball and settle down and they did just that in the 54th minute when big Oran Mulvaney plucked the ball from the sky around the middle of the park and combined brilliantly with Jason Scully.

The ball was then worked to substitute Cormac Browne who wasn’t long on the field but what a way to mark his entrance, with a fantastic score to get Loughcrew going again.

An Tuaisceart kept coming back and pointed once again Rian McConnell deadly accurate from the placed ball, but this Loughcrew team don’t know how to lie down and after somewhat tedious but patient build up play where the ball was kept safe before being worked to the shooter, Sean Reilly finally put four between the sides in the 58th minute.

With Referee Gabriel Patterson playing close to five minutes added time there was still time for An Tuisceart and while they pointed in the 62nd minute, they never looked likely of getting that much needed goal to level the sides, as a resolute Loughcrew defense held firm to deny any late opportunities.

So when the final whistle sounded Loughcrew took the win on a scoreline of 1-12 to An Tuiscearts 0-12.

That’s two wins from two for Loughcrew now but nothing is secured yet and they will need victory over Tara next week to make certain their Semi-Final spot…otherwise we could be getting the abacus out !!

Loughcrew: D.Scully, D.Garrigan, M.Flood, C.Fleming, L.Healy, S.Geraghty, S.Gibney, O.Mulvaney, E.Briody, S.Reilly (1-02), J.Scully, P.Sheridan (0-01), C.J Healy (0-03), H.Ryan (0-02), D.Shine (0-03(2f))

Subs Used: R.Maguire for C.Fleming 38’, C.Browne (0-01) for D.Shine 40’, C.Delaney for L.Healy 54’, J.Blake for C.J Healy 58’, K.Connell for H.Ryan 60’, S.Guirke for E.Briody 60’

Referee: Gabriel Patterson

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